By Lesley Ornelas
Texas State News Intern

San Marcos students were recently awarded scholarships at the Alumni Association’s 2007 Scholarship Gala at the LBJ Student Center Ballroom at Texas State University-San Marcos.
Each year the Alumni Association along with leading faculty from all over campus come together for an evening fine dining and entertainment to celebrate the awarding of over $100,000 in scholarships to Texas State students.
The Alumni Association scholarships are funded entirely by membership dues, event proceeds and gifts. 80% percent of the money used for scholarships goes to students who have a family member that has attended Texas State University whether it is a parent, grandparent, sibling, etc. Another 10% of the money goes to first-generation students. In order to apply for the Alumni Association scholarship students must meet minimum admission requirements for freshmen, maintain a 2.5 GPA, and average 12 hours a semester of 24 hours a year.
Two of the local scholarship recipients are Senior Jennifer Hollis and Freshman Jose Zuniga.
Jennifer Hollis is a Mathematics major and a continuing recipient of the scholarship.  She was first rewarded $750 back in 2003 when she was senior in high school. She heard about the scholarship through the career center at her high school that was there to help students in the process of applying to college, getting accepted, and receiving money to help pay for college costs. Each semester she proceeds to update her information with the Alumni Association and in turn continues receiving scholarship funds.
“The scholarship has helped so much over the past four years.  I am supporting myself through college, so I still work a lot.  However, being able to depend on the help of the Alumni Association has lightened the weight of the load significantly.  I wouldn't have made it this far with out them!”
Jose Zuniga, a freshman majoring in Economics at Texas State University, is a first time recipient of the Alumni Association Scholarship. He first heard about the scholarship opportunity from a high school advisor who wanted to help him go to college and help make a difference in his family. Jose and his parents are originally from Mexico but came to the United States in the hopes of finding more opportunities. Jose is a first generation high school graduate and the first in his family to be attending a university.
“Receiving a scholarship means to me a new opportunity to be successful in my life, because many people that have immigrated from other countries don’t have the opportunity to continue their education because college tuition is very expensive. Without this scholarship I would not be able to attend college.”
Other San Marcos recipients are Karla Alvizo, Elinor Denney, Juan Diocares, Justin Garza, Samantha Gonzales, Janelle Martin, Holly Pearce, Kevin Perez, Ashley L. Stone and Brenna Wilder.
For more information about the Alumni Association Scholarship or on how to make a donation to help fund future scholarships please contact the Texas State Alumni Association at (888)-798-2586.