Parker student awarded special AWC scholarship

[ AWC Teacher of the Year Steve Lund, Yesenia Melendez and President Glenn Mayle ]

An Arizona Western College student from Parker, Yesenia Melendez, has been named recipient of the Steven P. Lund Presidential Teacher of the Year Scholarship by Steve Lund, who was her English as a Second Language professor during the Fall 2011 semester.

Although it was her first semester at AWC, “It was evident from the beginning that she had clear academic and professional goals,” Lund says. “Her dedication to her studies and success to date at AWC provide inspiration to all our students whose second language is English. These are the reasons why I selected her for this scholarship.”

Melendez is majoring in business and has a GPA of 4.0. though she admits it is somewhat difficult for an ESL student to succeed in a college where English is the primary language. “But it’s not impossible,” she adds. “I think that if someone wants to succeed in life, one has to struggle in order to achieve it. As any student should do, I do my homework, I go to class, and I study for my tests.”

Dr. Glenn Mayle, president at AWC, notified Melendez of her scholarship.

“When I received the e-mail from President Mayle saying that I got this scholarship, I was so happy and excited … because it’s going to be very helpful,” says Melendez.

The scholarship is presented each year in the name of the faculty member selected as the AWC Teacher of the Year either to an outstanding high school student from within the college district who intends to enter AWC the next year, or to a continuing AWC student.