Central ISD senior planning to attend Baylor receives Gates scholarship

ANGELINA COUNTY, Texas (KTRE) - A Central ISD senior is one of a few people who received the Bill and Melinda Gates Scholarship.

Around 51,000 applicants applied for this scholarship across the nation, but only 750 received the award.

Isabel Contreras, the valedictorian of this year’s Central senior class, is a recipient of the scholarships. It is worth around $240,000. Scholarships of this kind are usually transferred directly to the school bursar’s office to offset the cost of tuition and fees.

At first, Contreras didn’t know if she even wanted to apply. She said she didn’t understand how big of a deal this scholarship was, and she was in shock to find out she was one of the few who received it.

“I was still really just confused how I got it because we are in such a small town, and we are a really small and rural school. I was just in awe, and I was like, Mrs. Jones is right, the hard work really does pay off, and it’s really still crazy that this happened,” Contreras said.

Contreras will be using the scholarship to go to Baylor University in the fall to major in health science studies in hopes of becoming a pediatrician one day.

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