Scholarship success story: Meet Arizona college student Daniel Nevarez

Adelante Scholarship helps Arizona students whose college plans were disrupted by COVID-19

 

The last few months before high school graduation were not how Daniel Nevarez envisioned. The COVID-19 pandemic forced him to finish school from home as schools across Arizona shifted to online learning.

It also caused Nevarez to reevaluate going to college right away.

“I was unsure of what to do,” he said. “My thought process was that if I do enroll in college, it’s going to be online. And I really wanted it to be in person. So, I took a gap year to see how things played out.”

Nevarez graduated in May 2020 from Chandler High School where he took numerous honors and Advanced Placement courses. He decided to delay college for a year.

He’s among the thousands of students whose learning and postsecondary plans were disrupted by the pandemic in Arizona, which is exactly the type of student whom the Adelante Scholarship is meant to benefit.

The now 20-year-old was awarded the Helios Education Foundation funded scholarship one year after he graduated high school, allowing him to start attending Chandler-Gilbert Community College where he’s close to completing an associate degree in business.

He received $2,000 during his first year at CGCC and $3,000 the following year. He stressed the Adelante Scholarship has had “a huge impact on my life.”

“I didn’t want my parents to pay for my college,” the first-generation college student said. “That was never my goal, so this scholarship means a lot. It allows me to go to college for almost free, which has been huge. It takes a lot of stress off the financial side, so I can just focus on the educational side.”

How the Adelante Scholarship has helped students so far

Adelante Scholarship recipients are paired with a success adviser through Education Forward Arizona, a leading nonprofit education organization that has partnered with Helios to award the scholarship.

Nevarez said his success adviser, Frank Zamora, has helped him with goal setting, provided him mentoring and guided him to ensure he’s on track to transfer to Arizona State University where he plans to start pursuing a bachelor's degree in business entrepreneurship in the fall.

“Having Frank as a success adviser has been very beneficial,” Nevarez emphasized.

Helios Education Foundation formed the Adelante Scholarship in the summer of 2021 at a time when data showed a significant drop in college enrollment by the class of 2020 and 2021 – the most affected by the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. The scholarship was a way to help those students reengage in postsecondary education.

Dozens of students have been awarded the scholarship since then. Sixty more will get the scholarship this summer. Students attending a community college will be awarded $4,000 and students enrolled at a university will get $6,000.

How to apply for the Adelante Scholarship

To qualify, applicants must have either:

• Graduated from an Arizona high school in 2020 or 2021 and had their educational journey impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic
• Enrolled in college during the spring or fall of 2020 or 2021 and took at least one semester off or failed courses during one of those semesters

AND

• Will be enrolled in an accredited community college or university in Arizona at least part-time in fall 2023
• Completed the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) or the Federal Student Aid Estimator

The deadline to apply is July 1, 2023. A committee will select the Arizona students who will receive the Adelante Scholarship. Students will be evaluated based upon their exceptional potential, commitment to continuing their education after high school, and the impact the COVID-19 pandemic had on their college-going plans. 

 

Learn more and apply for the Adelante Scholarship