Small Town News

Six local students get full-ride scholarships

---

Marcus LaRocque was ready to throw in the towel.

The senior at Turtle Mountain Community High School was having complications with his Federal Aid For Students Application (FAFSA) and was feeling discouraged. That was until Alicia Houle stepped in and helped him finish it.

"And bam, he got it," she said.

The two - as Houle explained, they were a former couple who are now best friends - motivated each other throughout high school, trying to out-best each other in tests in a bat-tie for better grades. They were also both fo-'cused on the Gates Millennium Scholarship-so much that they sought no other.

Late last month, they received the news they had been longing to hear: they were accepted.

Marcus and Houle, along with about 1,000 high school seniors throughout the United States, were the recipients of the scholarship, which pays for four years of college for 1, 000 selected students.

Of those 1,000, six lucky and scholarly seniors were from the Turtle Mountains. In addition to LaRocque and Houle, fellow senior Gaige Allard, as well as Cole Allick, Jessie Finch and Andrea Langan, seniors at the St. John High School, were on the receiving end of a scholarship that gives them a free ride throughout their college career.

For Houle, who plans on attending the University of North Dakota, where she will major in pharmacology, receiving the Gates Scholarship means "the world."

"It helps me pay for school, and I won't have to struggle to pay off college debts," she said.

LaRocque also is looking at UND, where his major will be pediatric psychology.

"It takes a real weight off my shoulders," he said about the scholarship. "I won't have to pay thousands and thousands of debt after graduation. I'll be able to concentrate on my studies."

All expenses paid

According to Maurice Aird, guidance counselor at the St. John School, a student needed a nominator and a recommender to apply for the scholarship.

"The nominator had to be a school official like a counselor or principal," Aird said, noting he served in that capacity for the three St. John seniors. "They could choose their own recommender. They had to choose someone that knew them well for several years."

The selection for the scholarships was based on good ACT or SAT scores, along with good grades; financial need; community involvement, "of some kind" and an essay describing their views on "discrimination, various opinions on issues, and a little bit about their life," Aird said.

The scholarship will pay for the expenses accrued during four years of college; if students qualify, it will also pay for graduate work, Aird said.

This would come in handy for Al-lard, who after splitting his first four years of college between the Dakota College at Bottineau and the North Dakota State University - Fargo, plans on achieving his doctorate in sports medicine, hopefully at the University of Minnesota, the closest university where he can achieve his goal.

"Relief was the thought that came to mind. I knew that my friends had applied for it, so I was anxious to hear what they got. It really means I will have a good college experience because I don't have that worry about bills or where I'm going to get funds."

Cole Allick, St. John High School senior



Copyright 2010 Turtle Mountain Star, Rolla, North Dakota. All Rights Reserved. This content, including derivations, may not be stored or distributed in any manner, disseminated, published, broadcast, rewritten or reproduced without express, written consent from SmallTownPapers, Inc.

© 2011 Turtle Mountain Star Rolla, North Dakota. All Rights Reserved. This content, including derivations, may not be stored or distributed in any manner, disseminated, published, broadcast, rewritten or reproduced without express, written consent from DAS.

More from Turtle Mountain Star