Julianna DeNike's College Fund

My name is Julianna and I am a 17-year-old high school senior who needs help to get to college. There are 3 turning points in my life that I’d like to share with you:

1.       My freshmen year it dawned on me that if I worked hard I could do well enough in school to be the first woman on my mom’s side of the family to go directly to a 4-year institution.

2.       I volunteered at a camp for special-needs children the summer before my junior year and was so inspired that within weeks I had started a club, The Bridge Project, at my school to connect special-needs students with general-enrollment students for social activities and events. I also wrote a course curriculum that was approved by the school district that enabled me to work as a tutor/assistant in the special-needs classroom – fulfilling elective class requirements for my junior year.

3.       After one of the students I was tutoring took his own life, and two more student suicides shocked our school, I decided to run for Senior Class President simply to help bring about any positive changes possible. This year we have seen a dramatic improvement of morale – an optimism and sense of hope – all over campus.

I want to continue the work I started: giving help to people in need, being a voice for those without a voice, and standing up on behalf of those who cannot otherwise stand up for themselves. One thing that I have learned in leadership is that I can use my platform for the good of others, but I need credibility for people to listen. I need to go to college, I need to be networking and developing connections to make a positive impact.

The bottom line is that I come from a family of humble means. My grades are great, I have tremendous energy, and I have a terrific work ethic. There is financial aid available to me, and I have been awarded a great deal of scholarship money; but, the simple reality is that college is more expensive than ever, and even if I take out tens of thousands of dollars in loans the amount of money that my family can give me just won’t cut it.

Just some of my accomplishments:

·         Senior Class President, Communications Chair

·         Founder and President, The Bridge Project

·         4.16 GPA and top 7% in my class

·         California Scholarship Federation scholar

·         Science Department Award recipient

·         Physical Education Department Award Recipient

·         I’ve taken nearly every Advanced-Placement course available to me

Thank you for any support you can provide. To receive any of your help would not only be humbling, but it would inspire me to pay your generosity forward throughout my professional career.