Eleni Rice, senior at Aldo Leopold Charter School
Photo courtesy of Dave ChandlerAldo Leopold Charter School senior Eleni Rice received news in December that she was awarded a $285,000 scholarship to attend Vassar College in New York State. The award was made as part of the QuestBridge program that facilitates the connection of high achieving students to leading educational institutions.

Eleni moved from Oregon to Silver City last year with her mom and sister. She attended South Eugene High School with an enrollment of 1,600 students. "The transition from a large high school to Aldo Leopold was not difficult because the students here are so friendly and I have moved around quite a bit as a child. It was really hard to leave my friends in Oregon." Eleni states. Aldo Leopold High School has 103 students.

Eleni picked Vassar College because her mom talked a lot about it when she was younger. Eleni says, "Attending college has always been a family value" Vassar College is a highly selective, residential, liberal arts college located in the heart of the Hudson Valley in New York State.

Eleni has proven to be an outstanding student at Aldo Leopold. She takes dual enrollment classes at WNMU and contributes significantly to the social justice issues the school is involved with.

Although she is not required to select a major until her sophomore year at Vassar, she hopes to focus on pre-med or pre-law courses. Eleni says, "The world has so much need for people to advocate for medicine, research, and compassion, and I want to contribute as much good as I can. I aspire to change the political system, contribute to major medical breakthroughs, and raise awareness and bring relief to humanitarian crises. Today, all I can do is apply everything I've learned throughout my life, and hope for the best. I suppose that's all anyone can really do in life."

Eleni hopes to travel abroad this summer to China, Thailand or Japan and to work and save for the students contribution to the scholarship.

QuestBridge, the program that helped Eleni connect to Vassar College, recruits, develops, and supports motivated students - beginning in high school through college to their first job - to be successful at America's best colleges, graduate schools, and companies. This year, 767 students were matched to a QuestBridge college partner with a full, four-year scholarship. QuestBridge Match Scholarships include tuition, room and board, books and supplies, and even travel expenses.

Aldo Leopold Charter School is a highly performing New Mexico Public School and includes students grades 6 through 12 at the middle school and high school.