Scholarships recognize hard work, but encourage students to return after college

While their accomplishments may have won a select group of graduates scholarships, the message of the night was made clear: Go get your education, come back and give back to Manatee County.

Wednesday night at IMG Academy Golf Club, the law firm of Kallins, Little and Delgado presented 11 graduates with a total of $16,000 in scholarships. It’s the firm’s 12th year of providing these scholarships to graduates.

From astounding GPAs and community service hours to prizes in skating and Formula 1 competitions, the list of student accomplishments goes on.

In a field of well-deserving applicants, many of the award winners were unanimous selections by the panel, something the attorneys noted does not happen often.

Students like Marc Brunot, who came to America from Haiti when he was 2 years old with his father — leaving his mother — and works as a dishwasher while going to school and taking college classes at State College of Florida.

Wednesday, Brunot was handed a check for $2,000, a scholarship in memory of Tripp Battle, a fellow Bruin, and one of three people murdered in December 2014. He plans to major in accounting at Florida Gulf Coast University after graduating high school with a 4.3 GPA.

Catherine Acosta’s mother brought her from Venezuala to America as a child to provide her with more opportunities.

“So you’re crazy smart, you’ve been a ballerina, you’ve been a dancer and you’ve done all these crazy things about you but when people talk about you, when you read what they wrote, they talk about your spirit and how motivated you are,” said Amy Wick, who presented Acosta with her award.

Acosta was awarded a $1,000 scholarship.

But Merritt Kendzior’s accomplishments in the F1 in Schools program, which allows students to design, build and race miniature Formula 1 cars, along with a 4.76 GPA and more than 500 hours of community service allowed her to bring home the largest scholarship handed out for $3,000.

“Growing up, I’ve always known I’ve always wanted to be an engineer,” Kendzior wrote in her essay. “I grew up playing with LEGOs instead of Barbie Dolls and spent my free time in middle and high school designing cars instead of going to the mall.”

Building cars in her spare time paid off. Kendzior has competed across the world, twice as part of a team representing the United States in the F1 in Schools competition, placing second and fourth in the world, according to her own website. She also took first place at the U.S. National Finals in 2013.

This story was originally published May 24, 2017 at 10:17 PM with the headline "Scholarships recognize hard work, but encourage students to return after college."