Alpine Bank Scholarships are helping 17 graduates of Western Slope high schools attend Colorado Mountain College next fall. We’ve been featuring all 17 scholarship recipients in eNews the past three weeks. Today’s Alpine Bank Scholar spotlight features Alexandra Lujano, a graduate of Steamboat Springs High School.
Alpine Bank awards CMC scholarship to local student
Alexandra Lujano has always believed in giving back to her Steamboat Springs community. Between school and working she makes time to help everyone, from children and senior citizens to patients at her local hospital.
Lujano, a recent graduate of Steamboat Springs High School, volunteered at the Boys and Girls Club of Steamboat Springs, the Grandkids Childcare Center, Yampa Valley Medical Center in the Day Surgery, Doak Walker Care Center and different events for the City of Steamboat Springs, while maintaining a 3.4 GPA. As her senior year approached, the dedicated student said she needed help with the cost of college.
“I believe by giving back to your community, the community at some point will always give back,” Lujano wrote in her successful application for the Alpine Bank Latino/Hispanic Scholarship.
Lujano recently learned she received the Alpine Bank scholarship to cover costs to attend Colorado Mountain College in the fall. The Steamboat Springs student is among 17 students from Western Slope high schools to receive assistance from Alpine Bank this year.
“The Alpine Bank Latino/Hispanic Scholarship has been instrumental in opening doors to qualified Latino-Hispanic high school graduates in our communities,” said Yesenia Arreola, youth outreach coordinator at Colorado Mountain College. “Without the assistance to make this important first step, many would have not been able to see themselves become graphic designers, business owners, teachers, banking representatives, nurses, entrepreneurs, nutrition specialists, paralegals and more.”
In honor of Alpine Bank’s 40th anniversary, four more scholarships than usual were awarded to qualified students in need, the most since the program began in 1996. The scholarship, which covers the cost of tuition, fees and books for two years, promotes diversity in the college’s student body. Many of the scholars, including Lujano, will be the first in their families to attend college.
“I’m very grateful and I’m glad everything is paying off,” Lujano said.
She said her favorite subjects are math and physics, and that she has always been a hands-on learner. She said her father told her, “You can’t have a car until you know how to fix a flat tire.”
Lujano said she wants to pursue engineering and will begin her studies in general education classes at Colorado Mountain College. She then hopes to transfer to the University of Colorado in Boulder.
“You always need to try and get more knowledge, whether that’s in art or math,” she said. “You can always grow.”
This year’s other scholarship recipients and their respective high schools are Daniel Peña, Jesse Monsalve-Moncada, Luis Peláez-Álvarez and Arianna Lomeli-Alcala, Glenwood Springs; Verónica Mendivil, Yampah Mountain; Georgina Martinez-Almeida and Judith Ruelas (merit scholar), Roaring Fork; Sandy Loera and Briana Fernández, Eagle Valley; Juliet Kennedy, Red Canyon; Jesús Garcia and Bebly Machado, Rifle; Elizabeth Navarro, Coal Ridge; Marcela Carrasco and Yoseline Ayala-Pineda, Aspen; and María Teresa Puerta-Giraldo, Summit.