3 JCPS students, sons and daughters of immigrants, awarded 4-year scholarships to college

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- Three Jefferson County Public School students have always had the grades to get into any Ivy League college, but they haven't had the financial resources.

Demos Negash is a senior at duPont Manual High School, Angela Escalante Zarco is a senior at Louisville Male High School, and Omar De La Osa is a senior at Fern Creek High School. All three are the children of parents who have immigrated to the United States, and they all come from families with limited financial resources.

So despite all having GPAs above 4.0, attending a top college seemed like a longshot.

"I did not believe that I would be able to go to college, because money was always an issue," Zarco said.

"I believed I would have to take out a lot of loans to go to any college at all," De La Osa added.

"It was just always like, 'how am I going to do it?'" Negash said.

But that doubt recently turned to delight for all three students. All three students recently received four-year scholarships to college.

"I was really excited, but I also felt like I was on top of the world," De La Osa said. "I can't believe I just got a full ride to a college."

"I just had such a big smile on my face, and my heart was just pounding," Negash added.

And they're not just heading to any college. All three are headed to their dream school.

"I'll be able to actually go to school, something I never thought I would be able to do," Zarco said. "It's a really big honor for me."

"It's like a culmination of all the hard work you put in, all the sleepless nights, all the extracurricular you paid for," De La Osa said. "It's everything put into one single, tiny, one-minute moment."

Omar is headed to Dartmouth College, Demos to Vanderbilt University, and Angela will attend Hamilton College. The students received scholarships through QuestBridge, which is a national program that connects high-achieving seniors from low-income backgrounds to the nation's top colleges.

The scholarship news led to tears of joy in the homes of all three students.

"When my mom came home, I told her, and she started crying," Negash said.

Zarco's parents came to Louisville from Mexico, De La Osa's family left Cuba when he was 6 years old, and Negash's mother came to the United States from Eritrea.

Negash's four-year scholarship to Vanderbilt University is valued at more than $300,000, JCPS said.

De La Osa credits Fern Creek's Ivy Plus Academy for introducing him to the idea that he could attend a high-profile university. His QuestBridge application listed the Ivy League's Dartmouth College as his top choice. According to JCPS, De La Osa's four-year scholarship is also worth more than $300,000.

Hamilton College is in Clinton, New York. According to the college's website, the cost of a four-year degree is $289,560.

All three students also plan to attend graduate school.