- N
- m
I wanted to give back to my dad in one way or another for his 80th birthday, so I decided to create an annual scholarship in his name, the Philip T Tran Scholarship Award, and offer it to high school students in the Sequoia High School District in the Bay Area. FYI, this district serves students in Belmont, San Carlos, Redwood City, Atherton, Menlo Park, East Palo Alto, and other Peninsula cities, and this district is actually where I myself attended high school! I committed myself to giving $1,000 every year, beginning in 2019, towards a high school student's college education, and focus the scholarship around the values that were so important to my dad and that he instilled in me and my sisters - those primarily being family, generosity, hard work, humility, and education.
Not knowing what to expect, I created the scholarship application form and distributed it to the schools about 5 months ago. Since then, I've been blown away by the applications I've received, and I've been so inspired reading through all of the incredible things that young teens are doing these days. With the world arguably in a state of turmoil now, learning about the issues that these high school students are passionate about these days and how they choose to spend their time outside of classes tackling those issues to make a difference has moved me to tears. The way these kids are addressing these areas are perhaps more involved and impactful than I have been even in my adult years.
Here are snippets of the areas/causes from the applications that some of the students are working on trying to improve:
*underserved populations' access to having their voices heard in government policy
*awareness of human trafficking in the US
*advocacy and inclusivity for the rights of undocumented families
*promoting teen mental health awareness
*accessibility and equal representation for people with special needs and/or physical disabilities
*climate change
*underserved populations' access to health care
*struggles in the Silicon Valley (i.e. paying rent; racism; homelessness; hunger)
*underfunded community resources for arts / music / sports programs and services
We are in the finalist interview stage and given how overqualified the students are, I wish I could give this year's winner more than $1,000, given that in-state college tuition costs at least $30K annually, and the annual fees for private universities are 2x that. Therefore, I'm trying to raise an additional $3,000 and kindly ask for your donation to the 2019 PTT Scholarship fund. [Update: I'm raising $1,000 for the 2020 PTT Scholarship fund.] To be absolutely clear, not a single dollar donated will go to me nor my dad! Rather, your donation is your trust in me to select a very deserving and admirable high school graduate, and 100% of the donations on this GoFundMe page will be added to my $1,000 donation, and then sent in one check directly to the winner's college in the Fall. I hope you, too, agree that investing in our youth's college education will make the world a better place.
THANK YOU SO SO MUCH FOR YOUR SUPPORT!
More details and the story behind the scholarship can be found on the website here:
www.PTTscholarshipaward.com/
Not knowing what to expect, I created the scholarship application form and distributed it to the schools about 5 months ago. Since then, I've been blown away by the applications I've received, and I've been so inspired reading through all of the incredible things that young teens are doing these days. With the world arguably in a state of turmoil now, learning about the issues that these high school students are passionate about these days and how they choose to spend their time outside of classes tackling those issues to make a difference has moved me to tears. The way these kids are addressing these areas are perhaps more involved and impactful than I have been even in my adult years.
Here are snippets of the areas/causes from the applications that some of the students are working on trying to improve:
*underserved populations' access to having their voices heard in government policy
*awareness of human trafficking in the US
*advocacy and inclusivity for the rights of undocumented families
*promoting teen mental health awareness
*accessibility and equal representation for people with special needs and/or physical disabilities
*climate change
*underserved populations' access to health care
*struggles in the Silicon Valley (i.e. paying rent; racism; homelessness; hunger)
*underfunded community resources for arts / music / sports programs and services
We are in the finalist interview stage and given how overqualified the students are, I wish I could give this year's winner more than $1,000, given that in-state college tuition costs at least $30K annually, and the annual fees for private universities are 2x that. Therefore, I'm trying to raise an additional $3,000 and kindly ask for your donation to the 2019 PTT Scholarship fund. [Update: I'm raising $1,000 for the 2020 PTT Scholarship fund.] To be absolutely clear, not a single dollar donated will go to me nor my dad! Rather, your donation is your trust in me to select a very deserving and admirable high school graduate, and 100% of the donations on this GoFundMe page will be added to my $1,000 donation, and then sent in one check directly to the winner's college in the Fall. I hope you, too, agree that investing in our youth's college education will make the world a better place.
THANK YOU SO SO MUCH FOR YOUR SUPPORT!
More details and the story behind the scholarship can be found on the website here:
www.PTTscholarshipaward.com/