In the News: NHS senior nets GFU Act 6 scholarship

A senior in Yellow School at Newberg High School was selected as one of a cadre of youths to attend George Fox University as part of a scholarship program that identifies urban minority students with leadership potential.

Julio Bautista, 17, born and raised in Newberg, is bilingual with just a hint of a Spanish accent as he speaks English. Enrolled in Edwards Elementary School’s Spanish immersion program as a youngster, he said that he carries a slight accent when he speaks Spanish as well.

He applied for the GFU scholarship because it was his intent to stay local for college. He’d also been considering Linfield College, on which campus he stayed last summer as part of a college prep program. He liked the campus but the classes he attended were geared toward high school students, while he had the opportunity to attend regular classes at GFU and was really impressed by those.

A somewhat reserved young man, Bautista didn’t think he’d fared too well during the leadership games used to trim the applicant pool for Act 6. He was encouraged when a current GFU student on an Act 6 scholarship told him that it didn’t matter how much he talked, but rather what he said.

A total of 83 students filed applications. One of the leadership activities they performed was to act as a school board and discuss which programs to cut. There were 20 students left after that phase of the program, Bautista said, and the final selection was made after a two-day weekend on GFU’s campus that included interviews, seminars and group challenges.

“They saw again how you would interact with people,” Bautista said.

Bautista said he believes that what most helped him for the experience was taking AP English at NHS. “I learned a lot more than I would have in regular classes,” he said. He quit playing soccer so he could focus on his academics, but said he still had a difficult time completing the AP English coursework. In school he’s discovered a great affinity for literature because of “how you can interpret literature and get all these great ideas.”

While he hasn’t chosen a major yet (he’s considering sociology, philosophy or psychology), Bautista is focused on some specific goals. He wants to study abroad his junior year and perform missionary work. “That’s something that really fascinates me,” he said.

He also wants to work with Latino students in order to help them to further their education. “I want for more Latino students to take AP classes, not so that it makes the classes more diverse, but so they further their education,” he said. AP classes not only educate students but they also open doors to better opportunities. Passing AP English and overcoming some of his challenges with sentence structure made him “realize I could go to a four-year university.”

The Act 6 program provides students with college preparation and Bautista said he expects to receive homework and attend seminars in the coming months.

So far 37 of the 40 students who received Act 6 scholarships are still enrolled at GFU.