Success Stories

Taylor Swift, Elena’s Gallegos’ favorite artist, sings the lyrics “if you never bleed, you’re never gonna grow” in her song The 1. Elena says she finds courage in these words when facing an unknown future. The 2023 Coronado High School graduate and Bronze Scholarship recipient is learning as she goes, experiencing all the challenges and joys of her freshman year at UNM in Albuquerque.

Jimmy Wheeler, a 2021 Pojoaque Valley High School graduate and 2023 Career Pathways Scholarship recipient, has long aspired to join the ranks of LANL employees. Jimmy took time from his busy schedule to speak with the LANL Foundation Scholarship Program Director about his journey and progress toward this long standing goal.

Meet Jamie Cruz-Sandoval, 2022 Bronze Scholarship and Michael A. Hiskey Nursing Scholarship winner. She is majoring in Nursing at the University of New Mexico. “I come from two Native American communities, and in Indian country in general, there are a lot of health disparities. Being awarded this scholarship allows me to continue furthering my education and earn a degree, allowing me to return and serve my communities as well as others.”

Meet Nathan Oswald from Taos, NM. He graduated from Farmington High School in 2001, spent two decades as a whitewater raft guide, and now attends UNM-Taos. He was awarded a Career Pathways Scholarship to study Pre-Science. “I am working towards a degree to be better able to find a permanent career in natural resource management in my lifelong home of Northern New Mexico.”

Meet Isa Bella Thomas, 2022 John and Marti Browne Leadership Scholar. She started Regent University in the fall of 2022 with plans to major in business. Isa Bella graduated from New Mexico School for the Arts where she took on numerous leadership roles. Sheco-founded the Women of Color Collective, which was featured in articles in the Albuquerque Journal, Source NM, The New Mexican, and Yahoo News