Madras High School senior, Fatima Valdovinos, has been awarded the prestigious Elks Most Valuable Student Scholarship. This scholarship is granted to only 500 students nationwide each year. It is a four-year award given to the highest-rated applicants based on academic excellence, leadership, and community service. The total value of the scholarship will be $4,000
Valdovinos received the exciting news of her scholarship while getting her nails done by a friend. This fall, she will be attending Oregon State University, where she has been accepted into the Honors College to study Business.
A big part of her application was her community service work. Since she was in sixth grade, she has been a volunteer with the Jefferson County Library District’s Spanish reading program, fostering a love of reading in young students. Her commitment to service continued throughout high school, where she became an active member of the Key Club, participating in various community projects, notably volunteering with Operation Rudolph, an initiative aimed at providing holiday cheer to families in need throughout Jefferson County.
“I think it’s something our community is very unique in where people from different groups and different places in life kind of come in and work towards a common goal,” she said about Operation Rudolph. “That’s really cool and something I’ve always been proud of.”
Her career aspirations include getting into entertainment management. She also has an interest in owning her own photography business. Her love for photography started at a young age after tagging along with her mother when she would take pictures. This summer, she will be capturing memories at a quinceañera and she also has regularly snapped pictures at one of her cousin’s soccer games.
“I love doing that,” she exclaimed. “So, fingers crossed, I can eventually go and live that way. My end goal is to have my own business, have my own schedule, my own routines and kind of be able to have control over what I do and not work the nine to five.”
We at Madras High School and JCSD 509J are incredibly proud of Fatima and look forward to following her success at Oregon State University and beyond.