Meet CALS Multicultural Scholars class of 2008/09
By Mary Ann Reese
Stephanie Cassidy, Richland, Wash., a sophomore in pre-vet studies, hopes to become a veterinarian. Her mother, Grace, was a migrant farm worker when Cassidy was younger. Cassidy has worked at a veterinary clinic “starting my senior year of high school, and I have been able to keep my job so far. This helps me know that I want to continue in this field and become a vet.”
Vanessa Cornwall, Boise, was born in the Azores but moved to the U.S. in 1993.
Since biology and chemistry were her favorite school subjects, she seeks a biochemistry
degree. She visits the Azores to “polish my Portuguese,” and she admires her “completely
trilingual” mom. Cornwall speaks English with friends, but serves them Azorean
dishes to the sound of Fado.
Sean LaPose, Phoenix, Ariz., of African-American and white heritage, is a freshman
in pre-vet studies. Raised by his grandparents after his mom died when he was
7, Sean grew up loving to watch Animal Planet and the Discovery Channel. “I imagine myself as a wildlife vet for the sick animals and want to save either just one life or an entire population of animals.”
Erica Trejo Lora, Blackfoot. “I was born and raised in Blackfoot after my parents migrated from Mexico to the U.S. with hopes for a better future. Both my parents sacrificed their education in order to support their families.” The first in her family to attend college, Lora, now a sophomore, is majoring in clothing, textiles & design. She hopes to study in_London.
Samantha Perez, Rigby, sometimes finds it hard to believe she
is Hispanic because of her light skin and hair. Her dad had 17 brothers and sisters,
and his parents grew up in Mexico on the family farm growing potatoes and raising
animals. A freshman studying agricultural business, she wants to be a lawyer,
perhaps focusing on agricultural issues.
Nicole Phillips, Boise, is a freshman with goals to be a veterinarian. Of Cherokee
descent, she has interned at a vet clinic where she “got to watch and ask questions
about more common surgeries, such as a dog getting spayed.” She wants to own
her own vet hospital and start a shelter for injured and abused animals.
Jennifer Spencer, a freshman from Meridian, is studying pre-vet medicine and
agricultural education. Of Portuguese and white heritage, she grew up hearing
her Hawaiian grandmother’s accounts of the Pearl Harbor attack. Her goals include
working as a veterinarian and teaching agricultural education in Idaho high schools.
She credits FFA with “giving light to my passion.”
Tiffany Thornton, Scappoose, Ore., is a junior studying early childhood development
and education. Of white and Alaska Indian (Tlingit) lineage, she wants to teach
elementary students. She once worked with a young boy with autism who “had such
a profound effect on my life” that she wants to better understand children with
special needs and help them and their parents.
Anthony Williams, Moscow, is a freshman studying environmental engineering.
Descended from the Umatilla tribe and with African-American and white heritages,
Williams is uniquely poised to understand complexities of living a multicultural
life. His goal is to “help solve environmental issues faced by
American Indian tribes.”
Erik Zavala, Wenatchee, Wash., a junior studying horticulture and agricultural education, is still haunted by the thought of his father, Miguel, entering this country “under the radar with the hope of bettering his life. My father’s dangerous odysseys across the desert ended with the 1986 Amnesty Act.” In 1995 his whole family entered the U.S. as registered residents.
photos by joe pallen
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