2023 - Scholarship Award Recipients
 

Education is the passport to the future, for tomorrow belongs to those who prepare for it today.  
    - Malcolm X
 

Brandon Bazile
Congratulations to Brandon as he starts his junior year at Loyola Marymount University, pursuing studies in computer science. He finds that courses building his computer skills have given him valuable insights on managing academic studies, work, and personal time. The university also has a unique commitment to interdisciplinary learning, and Brandon has taken advantage of this approach to enroll in a course of Comparative Theology. From that course he gained a deeper understanding  of his own faith by exploring the spirituality of Eastern religions. In addition to all his other commitments, Brandon takes out the trash.  He received a flawless score for his work on Loyola’s Waste and Management Crew, applying his computer-based skills to the efficient sorting of cardboard with few errors.  We are with you all the way, Brandon.

→ BRANDON'S VIDEO


Nane Samuelle Belinga
Our community is blessed that Nane came all the way from Cameroon to find a home with us. She is an international student starting her second year at Las Positas College and working towards a degree in Biology Allied Health. She hopes that her studies will lead to a career as a pediatric nurse. Her interest is not just in serving the health needs of children but also in providing an example of a young black woman in a STEM field. Mathematics was her easiest course because it is the same in English as in her native French. Joining study groups with other students was more of a challenge. Still, how many of us could maintain a 3.76 average in our first year of studies in a foreign language? Nane found a group of friends in the Christ In Action Club, deepening her reading in the Bible and practicing her speaking in English.  And why not try out for the cheerleading squad? The squad gave her a chance to dance and to make two new best friends.  You are well on you way, Nane, and we are pleased to share this walk with you.  

→ NANE'S VIDEO

Jennifer Manango Galvez
We are pleased to have followed Jennifer through all three years of her college career at California State University, Sacramento. She reports that she has lost lots of sleep over her academic studies, but it was all worth it. This summer she is completing the prerequisites needed to take the qualifying exam and apply for the university pre-nursing program in the fall. Practical experience came from serving as an intern in the university-sponsored exercise and education program, helping older people improve their cardiovascular health. While taking vital signs Jennifer created many bonds with those whom she calls her lovely patients. Continuing support also came from the student club Samahang Pilipino, where Jennifer and other Philipino students connect with their common culture and heritage. Our prayers and best thoughts are with her as well. 
 

Hope isn’t something that we ask of others, it’s something that we have to demand from ourselves.
    - Amanda Gorman

Eryn Gardner 
Eryn has been a member of Saint Columba Parish since she was born. All grown up now, she graduated from Salesian College Preparatory and will attend Sonoma State University this fall. Eryn’s high school career is the model of the student-athlete: managing studies and training, the late nights that turn into early mornings, meeting the demands to achieve from all sides. Her coach says that Eryn seeks constructive feedback on all her performances to improve her skills, a quality that many high school athletes do not have. Her greatest moment may have been in her senior year, helping lead her team to the Division I Women’s State Basketball Championship.  Eryn will play basketball and study psychology at Sonoma State, presumably to psych out the opposing team.  Abundant blessings on your future path, Eryn. 

→ ERYN'S VIDEO


Ukachi Nnachi
Our congratulations to Ukachi as she graduates from Saint Mary’s High School and plans to enroll in University of California, Berkeley in the fall.  Her love of reading inspired her to write short stories, and for her senior project she wrote a novella on overcoming mental illness. A college course in reading and composition has caught her interest, with a focus on how different pieces of writing represent social justice. Ukachi’s interest in writing is not limited to English apparently, as she is currently learning Japanese, Korean and French. Her favorite forms of dance are ballet and hip hop. She has also had the chance to perform - with her dance class, with her ballet class, and in the school production of Grease. Go in grace, Ukachi - a world awaits your inquiring mind.

→UKACHI'S VIDEO

Alexander Rudolph
Rounding third and heading for home. Alex enters his senior year at San Francisco State University this fall. He plans to use his degree in Electrical Engineering to improve and develop technologies to combat the Climate Crises (the capital letters are his). Ecosystems inspire his hobby of fictional writing, and specifically how cities work with the environmental landscapes they inhabit. Alex hopes to combine both interests after earning his degree.Alex is also a mentor to the youth of our parish, leading the Youth Group in a discussion of social justice topics and acting as head trainer for the church technology ministry. Alex is a continuing gift to us: may he receive as many blessings as he gives.  

2022 - Scholarship Award Recipients

Chidimma Ezeokoli 

Senior year!  We have followed Chidemma through all four years of her college career, and we celebrate her as she completes her degree in Health Science with a concentration in public health at California State University East Bay.

In addition to serving as Vice President of the African Student Association and dancing with the Eclectic Pulse group for a break from studies, Chidimma was invited this spring to join the historically African American sorority Sigma Gamma Rho. The slogan of the sorority is "Greater Service, Greater Progress," achieved by promoting the values of sisterhood, youth education, leadership development, and programs and services in the community.

A continuous line of service that began with the Youth Empowerment Project in our parish where Chidimma was a co-presenter in 2018.  

May God always guide her steps. 
 

Develop enough courage to stand up for yourself and then stand up for someone else.  
Maya Angelou

Jennifer Manango Galvez
Congratulations to Jennifer as she begins her sophomore year at California State University Sacramento pursuing a nursing career. Freshman year had its challenges, but she found the academic and social support she needed to complete a successful year.

In addition to demanding course work in science fields, Jennifer volunteered as an intern with the Community Health & Adolescent Mentoring Program and Youthworks. That internship continues her deep commitment to service that inspired her career choice.

Support also came from the student club Samahang Pilipino, where Jennifer met other Filipino students to connect with their common culture and heritage and to offer each other positive motivation and support.

Our prayers and best thoughts are with her as well.  


Alexander Rudolph
This fall Alex enters his junior year at San Francisco State University where he continues his electrical engineering studies. The cumulative 4.00 GPA comes as no surprise, in courses ranging from Microelectronics to Race, Gender and Science Fiction.

The university allows him to review the senior projects of other engineering students, sparking the interest in his own studies and many questions. In the middle of all this, Alex continues to serve as an adult mentor for the parish Youth Group.

We are also fortunate to have his ongoing expertise as a lead technology trainer, producing the online parish liturgies that so many of us depend on.

May Alex receive as many blessings as he gives. 

Scholarship Award Recipients 2021

Brandon Bazile
Congratulations to Brandon as he graduates from Saint Mary’s High School and prepares to start at Loyola Marymount in the fall, taking up studies in computer science. That interest arises from his participation in the Hidden Genius Project, a group that trains and mentors young black men in technology creation and leadership skills.

Students who participate in the project are known as geniuses. After only a year, Brandon won the Best App Award and the 2019 AfroTech Pitch Competition. Maybe on a Christmas break he can come back and help his dad distribute the holiday food packages from the parish, as he always has. Our hearts go with Brandon in this latest adventure. 

Tatjana Bevineau
Tatjana is one of our graduating seniors this year, completing her pre-med studies at the University of San Francisco. The public health emergency turned the last school year upside down. All classes were online, including upper-level science courses and the correlated lab work. Imagine also taking voice lessons over Zoom, as part of a minor in music. For Tatjana the school year also included work as a simulations technician working alongside licensed nurses in a clinical setting.  

The pandemic put most outside activities on pause, but she continued her work with Camp Kesem, providing needed support to students who have a parent with cancer. She served on the Board that raised funds to make the Camp a reality this summer. Whew. What a year and what a fine culmination of a college course of study.

A career in medicine awaits.  

Chidimma Ezeokoli 
We sent Chidimma off to college with our prayers two years ago, and when she started on her sophomore  year  this time  last year. Part Three. Chidimma will major in Health Science with a concentration in public health, just in time to help us through a global pandemic.  Her passion for helping others has found an outlet at the Youth Employment Partnership this summer.

She will mentor at-risk youth in the skills needed to apply for jobs and to take interviews, all the while cleaning the streets of Oakland. Her mentoring will also include advice on college and future careers.  To take a break from studies Chidimma is also a member of the Eclectic Pulse dance team.  We knew her love of dance from her time with us and are delighted to hear of a new opportunity.

Our pride and our praise join in her dance. 

For surely I know the plans I have for you, says the Lord.
Plans for your welfare and not for harm,  to give you a future and a hope.
                              —Jeremiah 29:11

Jennifer Manango Galvez
Jennifer is one of two members of the freshman class receiving awards this year. She will pursue a nursing degree at Sacramento State University in the fall. Her mother’s strength in coping with illness inspired Jennifer to take her education seriously. In addition to classes at Berkeley High School, she was a volunteer intern at UCSF Children’s Hospital, shadowing doctors and nurses and helping with patients when needed. Her high school even offered an honors course in Applied Medical English.

She came to see and use educational opportunities that came to her as steps that would lead to a career in the medical field. We will miss the spirit of service that showed in the many years that Jennifer was an altar server at the 4:00 Mass.

May God open the new roads ahead for her.  

Isabel Hallock 
Our prayers and best wishes go with Isabel as she starts her senior year at Xavier University of Louisiana.  She has majored in psychology and looks forward to taking an advanced degree in education. Online courses this past year during the pandemic had unique challenges for Isabel. An 8:00 morning class in New Orleans became a 6:00 class in Oakland. Classes had to be balanced with work in the evenings to cover expenses.  Fortunately, Isabel found an apartment in New Orleans for the coming academic year.  

The past four summers she has also taught at the Oakland Freedom Schools Literacy Program. That literacy assistance program has become Isabel’s second home, and inspires her goal of teaching children of color as part of a post graduate degree in school counseling. We are thankful for Isabel’s work with the Social Justice Committee of our parish that brought her this far by faith. 

Alexander Rudolph 
This fall Alexander enters his second year at San Francisco State University where he is studying electrical engineering. These studies grew from a robotics club in high school, helping design a robot that could lift and carry socks faster and more efficiently. Two older brothers led the way to college studies, both of whom were previous award recipients. One brother would talk about the workings of insects and the other helped Alexander understand the histories of different cultures.  

He began the biography attached to his application with the statement “Imagine you are an intention. Which intention are you?” Alexander’s intention is patience working with his internal hunger for knowledge.  

May he never outgrow that patience or that hunger. 
 

Every great dream begins with a dreamer. Always remember, you have within you the strength,
the patience, and the passion to reach for the stars to change the world.
                               — Harriet Tubman



 

2020 - Scholarship Award Recipients 

Briana Bazile 
A third year at New York University – where has the time gone? Briana continues her studies as a Global Liberal Studies major. That interest began in a freshman course on Caribbean cultures and the effects of colonialism and tourism on island communities. Briana’s interest in social and environmental justice has grown over the past year to become global. 

Briana took a job at a Chipotle chain in New York for walk around money, and the restaurant was next door to the New York  Rescue Mission. She noticed how much food went to waste, so after her shift she brought the leftover chips to the Mission. She also served meals at the Mission during the days. 

New York University offers courses in Los Angeles as part of its global outreach. We are as pleased as Briana’s parents that she can be closer to us.  
 

Rosa Parks inspired me to find a way to get in the way, to get in trouble... good trouble, necessary trouble.
—John Lewis 

Tatjana Bevineau 
Tatjana is a new recipient this year but her college career is not new. She is entering her junior year at the University of San Francisco, majoring in biology with a minor in music. The next two years will be spent preparing for admission to medical school. Her desire to become a pediatrician came from joining her mother, an occupational therapist, when she worked with children.  

Tatjana is a member of Camp Kesem SF, a charitable group that supports children through and beyond a parent’s cancer. The group brought her through difficult years in high school and helped her not only bear with her struggles but excel. She is now a counselor at University of San Francisco sharing the gift of Camp Kesem that she received.  

Tatjana has found new ways to connect with the parish in the current public health emergency.  She watches the live-streamed masses with her family, and joins the Black Lives Matters protests in front of the church. She is always close to our hearts.   

Education is our passport to the future, for tomorrow belongs to the people who prepare for it today.
—Malcom X

Christian Feraria
Christian will be a senior, and the Scholarship Committee is pleased to have supported him through all four years of his college career. A semester abroad in Spain was cut short in March, and he managed the stress of fifteen hours travel home on short notice. We are glad to have him home safe. Christian can also attest to the difficulties of completing the semester online from a hotel room where he self-quarantined for two weeks. 

Christian has worked twenty hours a week during his entire college career, balancing work and studies. He does not regret the work hours at the Aztec Tennis Club in Berkeley because it gives him the opportunity to coach underprivileged youth. We wish Christian a successful and rewarding final year at Saint Mary’s College, with considerably less drama.  

Vanneasha Soublet 
Vanneasha is back near us, starting her junior year at Diablo Valley College. She is pursuing a career as a psychiatric nurse, and has nearly completed all prerequisite courses to apply for nursing programs.   

The past two years of college have been a journey of reflection and self-discovery for Vanneasha. Studies have been challenging, and she knows that success in college will come from within her. Living at home makes for a different college experience, but Vanneasha is more than grateful for the support of family and friends as she begins a new semester.