Ramos: DHS Grad, Gates Millennium Recipient Pursues Education Degree

Gates Millennium Scholarship Makes Berry College a Reality

Jeffrey Ramos is fresh off his first semester of college at Berry. He says college life is different than high school but he’s made the adjustment well. Ramos, a

Jeffrey Ramos

2011 graduate of Dalton High School, has been able to live out his dream of attending Berry College because of a Gates Millennium Scholarship he received from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.

Ramos was only one of 1,000 scholarship recipients nationwide from about  3,000 students who applied. Although he received other scholarships and financial aid, it wasn’t enough to pay all the expenses at Berry. However, receiving the Gates Millennium Scholarship provides Ramos with funds to pay all the unmet needs—whatever expenses that might have been an obstacle to his attaining his education at Berry—which amounts to about half the cost of his education. In return, he must maintain adequate academic progress during his tenure in college.

Ramos was an honor graduate at Dalton High who was active in Mock Trial, Skills USA, and the Community Impact Team as well as several other organizations. He worked part-time at the Boys and Girls Club in Dalton. He was named “Most Involved in School Leadership” his senior year. His recommender for the Gates Millennium Scholarship was Dalton High School government services teacher Ken Wiggins, who was familiar with Ramos’ community service and leadership skills. His nominator for the scholarship was DHS French teacher Shanda Hester who was able to evaluate his academic record. Ramos said he almost didn’t apply because he thought the odds were so great. But his friend Christian Tuchez convinced him that he didn’t have anything to lose by applying. The application process is grueling and requires the student to submit eight different essays while the recommender and the nominator must submit five essays each. All the hard work paid off when he received notice of his scholarship award.

“I really could not have gotten this scholarship without Mr. Wiggins and Mrs. Hester,” said Ramos. “Mr. Wiggins was more than a recommender—throughout high school he was a mentor and a role model to me. I really looked up to him. He took the time to work with me, listen to me and genuinely care about me as a person. He has made such a huge impact in my life—it is unbelievable. He is now a close friend of mine. We still keep in touch and always will because I would have never been able to do this without him.

“Mrs. Hester is an amazing woman,” Ramos said. “She always believed in me and never gave up on me. She also cared about me as a person not just some student. We had a lot of heart-to-heart conversations when I was going through hard times and her eternal optimism and faith in Christ really helped me get through those tough times. I also continue to stay in touch with her and she is like a mother to me. These two have greatly influenced my life, and God has blessed me with them in my life. I can’t imagine where I would be without them. I love Mr. Wiggins and Mrs. Hester—without them my dream would have been just that … a dream. I am forever grateful for them and indebted to them. Sure they wrote the essays and helped me get the scholarship but they mean so much more to me than just a Recommender and Nominator.”

During his first semester, Ramos says he’s been getting used to the college environment and working part-time as a teaching assistant in a kindergarten class at Berry College Elementary. “I’ve really enjoyed working with the little kids,” Ramos said. “I’ve decided to major in early childhood education because I think my calling is to work with younger students. Between my work at the Boys and Girls Club and with Berry Elementary, I have realized how much I would enjoy teaching as a career.”

Ramos is also stepping out to try new things. “I’m participating in the Cheer Squad at Berry for the basketball team,” Ramos added. “I played intramural soccer with some friends during the first part of the semester and one of them was already on the cheerleading squad. He wanted to get more male cheerleaders involved so he convinced us to give it a try. I never knew how much hard work went into cheerleading. It’s a very physical sport that requires the guys to do a lot of lifting and gymnastics. I’m learning but I’m enjoying it very much.”

Ramos said he’s appreciative of the scholarship because of the burden it’s taken off of him and his family. “It’s taken the massive weight of potentially $80,000-plus of debt off my shoulders and completely eliminated it. It has now removed an economic barrier for me and has replaced it with a chance to make my dreams come true as I look towards the next 3 ½ to 4 ½ years at Berry College.

“I want to eventually come back and teach in Dalton and make a difference in children’s lives here,” Ramos said. “I am not teaching to just teach or to make money or for the benefits. I am teaching because I want to make a difference and I love working with children. Without this scholarship, none of this would be possible. I am truly blessed.”

The Gates Millennium Scholars Program, established in 1999, was initially funded by a $1 billion grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to promote academic excellence and to provide an opportunity for outstanding minority students with significant financial need to reach their highest potential. The scholarship targets African American, American Indian/Alaska Native, Asian Pacific Islander American and Hispanic American students with high academic and leadership skills to increase the representation of these target groups in disciplines of computer science, education, engineering, library science, mathematics, public health and the sciences, where these groups are severely underrepresented. The scholarship pays for all of a student’s unmet need and self-help aid at the college or university of their choice and will also cover graduate school funding if the student chooses to pursue education in one of the underrepresented disciplines.