Meet Our Newly Sponsored Teens!
We are so excited to welcome the newest members of the ABFK family. Thanks to the generosity of our DreamMakers' supporters, we were able to award new sponsorships to five bright and talented teens. Help us welcome Bella Hutchison, Lex Lo, Miguel Tolentino, Uriel Rodriguez Jimenez, and Victoria Phyra. Scroll down to read more about some of our newest students and the challenges they've had to overcome.
When I was 3, my family had a lot of problems and all five siblings were separated from our birth parents. There was a place called Bridge of Hope where all of us kids would go on Saturday mornings to eat and make art. The founder of Bridge of Hope was a friend of my forever mom, Deanne.
When we needed a place to stay Sheri from Bridge of Hope took us to Deanne and Kips. I remember walking in the front door for the first time and doing the hokey pokey with Mom (Deanne), thinking this seems like a fun place. After living with my Mom and Dad for seven years, they officially adopted me in 2016 and lots of our friends were there to celebrate that special day.
Dancing is my favorite thing to do in the whole world. It makes me so happy. My other love after Dance is dogs. I love them so much and wish I had one! My plan is to train police dogs when I'm old enough.
My name is Miguel Tolentino, I am a student at The Preuss School UCSD. As I grew up in San Diego, the life that I thought I had was something that confused me a lot. I am the youngest of two, I have an older brother that has shown and taught me a lot about the life that I live. In my family I am the only one who is a citizen, my parents and brother are immigrants with a harsh past from our home in the Philippines. This is a lot of pressure for me to be the one who is most eligible to be successful in my family.
I am a Varsity basketball player. Basketball is one of the most important things in my life that I hold up as happiness. I use basketball as a stress reliever from school because Preuss is a very hard school since everything is advanced. It is also my stress reliever for having to be the one who is always tough in the family. With everyone working and trying to make money, I always take care of the household chores and help my family.
Hello, I’m a freshman at The Preuss School UCSD. My family is made up of my brother and my Mom and Dad. I still have three more years of high school to go, in which I hope I do well so that I can go to a four-year college and then move onto a good university.
When I have free time I like to spend time with my brother playing games and going places. I also like to go to the mountains where I spend all day admiring the nature of the planet. I also like to play tag and hide-and-seek in the dark with my younger cousins because I want to be there for them like my older cousins were there for me. I also like to help cook whenever I can because I like how it feels when I help make food even though when I cook it doesn’t always come out how it's supposed to.
Ever since I was a little kid, I was always fascinated by the way animals live. I want to learn about them and how they face everyday obstacles like finding food and water as well as how they avoid predators. I want to learn from these animals and share what I find about them. I plan on going to an internship or any opportunity that explains the biology of these animals.
In addition to animals, I also enjoy drawing, taking pictures, and running. I sincerely hope that one day I will be able to take formal drawing lessons and maybe make comic strips. I know that with this scholarship I could get a camera to help me prepare for when I take photos of animals in the wild. This is not possible by myself because my family cannot afford to pay for a camera or pay tuition for an internship. I know that having a sponsorship will greatly help me and it will be a great opportunity to learn to be a better person and a better student.
My name is Victoria Phyra and I am a freshman at Helix Charter High School. I was born and raised in Cambodia for fourteen years and I have just recently immigrated to the U.S. one year ago. Back in Cambodia, my Mom and Dad weren’t married so I had to live with my Dad and the fact that he was diagnosed with blood cancer and has to constantly visit the hospital every month truly concerns me.
I am determined to strive my hardest in order to achieve a better life by being in the U.S. I have two half-siblings, my older brother is 19 years old and he is currently attending Harvard. I also have a younger sister who is 8 years old. My mom works at Sunny Donuts every day, 7 days a week because she needs money to help sustain our lives since she is a single mom. I also work at Sunny Donuts on the weekends because I want to support my Mom in paying the bills.
My favorite subject is Math! The unknown solution in a math problem is similar to solving a mystery. No matter how hard the problem might be, there is always a solution to that problem or a proof that proves that there is none. I am also involved in is Speech and Debate. I have acquired many fundamental skills such as how to think critically, how to conduct strong research, and how to develop and present our own voice with passion and confidence.
I am working extremely hard right now in excelling in my academics and also focusing on what I needed to accomplish because I wanted to get into Harvard and continuing my education in medical school in order to become an OB/GYN (Obstetrician-Gynecologist). I am really interested in this field because I have found that 25.4% of women in the United States are diagnosed with different kinds of cancers and I truly want to be the person to help every woman with that issue.