Who am I?
Hello there. My name is Katherine Fonseca and I am 16 years old, Latina, & the eldest child of 2. I am currently a junior (11th) at Sonoma Valley High School, and I am first generation in my family who will go to college. Throughout the years, I have kept a steady 4.0 GPA, while last year it was a little higher thanks to the boost my AP classes gave me. I am biliterate in English and Spanish. I attended a dual immersion school up through middle school and I have both presidential awards due to my GPA and bilitteracy in both languages. I come from a very low-income family that depends on money on a day to day basis. My family has been committed to our community our whole lives. My parents have taught me the value of stability and hard work, while we are living in a 1 room house for 12 years- yet we are still grateful to have a home. Recently I was invited to attend the National Student Leadership Conference. For more information there’s a brief summary in the next section explaining NSLC. The program that Im hoping to attend and wish to be funded for is the Engineering program, held at UC Berkley in Berkeley, CA. The fee is $4,000 wich includes the program, housing on campus, food, course material, program activities, travel to the conference and money for other incidental expenses. A dream come true. My family cannot afford the entire amount; therefore, I would be grateful for your assistance, and if your unable to assist monetarily, please help spread the word, anything would help. This prestigious program selects outstanding high school students from around the world to participate based on academic excellence, extracurricular involvement, and demonstrated leadership qualities. These qualities have given me the courage to set up a “Go fund me” page to request financial support, which will enable me to attend the Conference in the summer of 2020 I need to pay $500 as my deposit, and the program is allowing me to pay the rest in a 6 months time period. Again, thank you for your help.


What is NSLC?
Now, I am sure you may have various questions as to what exactly NSLC is. NSLC is the National Student Leadership Conference, and this is held at a National level. It has been operating for the past 30 years offering summer enrichment programs for students around the world. The school/teachers can nominate you based on your academic performance, extracurricular activities, and leadership potential. Alumni can nominate their peers based upon the same criteria as listed, or Certain students are identified through national student talent identification programs, surveys, and the College Board Student Search Service. The students are recognized for their scholastic achievement and a strong interest in the areas of study related to NSLC programs. Although not everyone is nominated or chosen, they can still apply if they feel like they can demonstrate these skills. 

Some of the benefits that this program offers are 
-Exploring a potential career for the future
-It prepares us for college and future everyday life
-We learn leadership skills which can help us achieve our goals
-We get to experience life on a college campus
-There’s a diversity of cultural ethnicities
-We can explore real-life careers and what it takes 
-We gain insights into our plausibly future career on exclusive tours
-We get to listen to guest speakers and professionals in the field to see how it was like for them
-And many more!

Credits go toward the National Student Leadership Conference, https://www.nslcleaders.org/

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