Scholarship Recipients

Spring 2010 Scholarship Winners  

Congrats to Camille Wilcox, Raylyn Cheek, Joeline Wise, and Rachel Regis. 

Camille Wilcox /UMass-Boston

A few words from CAMILLE WILCOX:

My name is Camille Wilcox and I was born and raised in Boston. I graduated from Charlestown High School. I then started college at Newbury College in Brookline, studying criminal justice. I completed two years at Newbury and then transferred to Bridgewater Stat College because of financial reasons. After getting pregnant my junior year of college, I decided to finish that year and then take some time off to raise my son. I had to obtain a night job while taking care of my son during the day until he was of school age.

I had the support from my family but I knew it was going to be hard raising my son as a single mom and working full time. I always knew I wanted to finish my education and still was determined to accomplish my goals. After years of heading my own household and working full time in a good job, I decided that now was the time to finish my goal and get my degree. My son is now six years old and he is the light of my life. He is also one of the reasons why I continue to strive for higher greatness. I am now a senior at UMass Boston studying Criminal Justice. I plan to get my BA in criminal justice and then go on to get my Master's in Education or human services. I want to then maybe teach, or become an administrator of the school system or work with youth services in some form. The Alray Scholarship has helped me by knowing that they are there for support and giving me some financial assistance to finish my degree. 

Raylyn Cheek/Roxbury Community College 

A few words from RAYLYN CHEEK:

Fall 2009 Scholarship Winner

CORI BOSTON’s talent and determination propelled him to a Division I basketball scholarship at Robert Morris University in Pennsylvania. He enjoyed the experience of living away from home, making new friends, and studying new subjects. But on the basketball team, he desperately missed the sense of family and camaraderie he had enjoyed during his high school years at Charlestown High. He had an experience all too common for Division I athletes: The coach who had recruited him left for another job; he sometimes felt as though he was a replaceable employee in a business rather than an indispensible member of a team; and he suffered through multiple injuries and surgeries, which took a toll on his confidence.

After two years, he left college and returned to Boston. He passed the EMT exam and began logging rigorous 70-hour work weeks. Still, he missed college. He also felt boxed in by the hefty car loan he regretted having taken out, but didn’t feel he could walk away from it because his sister had been a co-signer and he didn’t want to hurt her credit rating.
Cori enrolled at Norwich University in Vermont with a new appreciation for the gift that is college life, and a new determination to make sure he doesn’t leave without a degree this time.

Receiving an Alray Taylor Second Chance Scholarship is especially meaningful for Cori because he and Alray were the closest of friends. “Alray and I always talked about having our degrees,” Cori says, “and how much it would mean, not only to our friends and family, but for us to be able to look back and see how far we’ve come. I made a promise not only to myself but to Alray as well, that if I get the chance to get back into school and play ball again, I’m not going to leave without my degree.”

2008-2009 Scholarship Winners

KEYANA HICKS graduated from Boston High School in 1997 where she earned A’s and B’s. But in her first year at the University of Massachusetts at Boston, she struggled and was unfocused. “The first semester I got an A in my favorite class, Theatre Arts, and the rest of the classes I failed,” she says. Partly, that was because she felt unprepared for college. “I can distinctly remember feeling left out in my English 101 class because I did not know some of the basic grammar and punctuation rules.” That spring, she retook the classes she had failed. “I was very determined to pass, but that was not the case. I thought I met the man of my dreams at the time, and all of a sudden I got pregnant. I lost all hope and dropped out of school. I was going to be a mom, and felt like that had to be my first and only priority.”

When Keyana applied to the Alray Taylor Second Chance Scholarship, she was nine years older and far more mature. While raising her daughter she spent six years working at Boston City Hall, in the Mayor’s Office and in the Boston Transportation Department Claims Office. “After having my daughter I had often contemplated going back to school, but my new responsibilities would not permit it,” she says. “I had to work a full-time job and commit any free time to her.”

Eventually, she decided to return to college and earn her degree – and not just for herself. “I am not only a mother, but also a role model,” she says. “I have to show my daughter that it is never too late to fulfill your dreams and aspirations.” In June 2009, Keyana graduated from Gibbs College, with a degree in business management and a transcript full of A’s. She and her 8-year old daughter often did their homework together in the evenings.

TERESA PINA was a star student and athlete at Charlestown High School, graduating in 2006. She was accepted early decision to Stanford University, even though she had applied for the regular admission cycle.

Teresa was determined to stand on the shoulders of her brother, who had graduated from Boston Latin Academy and won a prestigious Posse scholarship to Hamilton College. “Through him, I developed a passion for learning and for basketball,” she says. “Unfortunately, he didn't make it past his first semester in college, but it was my dream to keep on succeeding and attend Stanford University.”

Still, she was not prepared for the difficulties she would face upon moving to Northern California in the fall of 2006 to begin her freshman year at Stanford. “The cultural differences, separation from my family, and anxiety all took a toll on my confidence,” she says. She was academically suspended for one year. She returned home to Dorchester and worked at the local Boys and Girls Club. “I wrestled with the idea of going back to school,” she says. Although she made a few attempts to return to school that were unsuccessful, she says, “my mind was always focused on going back to school.”

In December 2008 she felt she had experienced enough setbacks and she fully committed herself to returning to college. She began taking classes at Bunker Hill Community College in January 2009. Of the Alray Taylor Second Chance Scholarship she was awarded, Teresa says, “the board’s confidence in me and mentoring helped me realize success.” She reports doing well in her classes and establishing good relationships with her professors. After another semester at Bunker Hill, she hopes to transfer to a four-year college and earn her bachelor’s degree in anthropology. After graduation, she says, "I plan to work abroad and continue to help people in the way that people have been helping me my whole life.”

ADDITIONAL 2008-2009 WINNERS

• Joseph Hobbs/Bunker Hill Community College
• Paul Becklens/College of Southern Idaho