Senior Mayra Pena has been received into a a brand new engineering program at Purdue University in Lafayette. Purdue University launched the Purdue Rising Scholars Program just this year to financially aid and mentor students from backgrounds with a low socioeconomic status who are entering the engineering program. This program is designed to allow students who were waitlisted or deferred to the Purdue Engineering program, but guaranteed admissions to any of their other colleges, to have a second chance to be part of the Engineering Program. Students in this program are guided through their college years and are given an outline of what is expected of them to complete every semester and summer to be on track to a successful future. Students will also have access to a strong support system in addition to courses that rest of Purdue engineers are take already.

   “I will be at Purdue every single summer until I graduate doing Academic Bootcamps, Research along other Engineers, Conducting my own experiments and doing Internships,” said Pena when asked about what exactly she will be doing as a Rising Scholar.

   What really makes the Rising Scholars Program different, though, is that it is specifically created for students who come from lower socioeconomic backgrounds. As well as coming from a lower economic community, the student must also have completed Chemistry, Physics, Calculus, have above average SAT/ACT Scores and a high cumulative grade point average. As an accepted student into the program, Pena was awarded an annual $6,500 dollar Rising Scholars scholarship in addition to numerous merit based scholarships. These accumulated awards have covered her total tuition and expenses to attend Purdue University.

   Being an East Chicago resident with all the requirements Pena jumped at the opportunity. Pena said, “When I first received the offer, I wanted to make sure that I would be able to get the full Purdue engineering experience and make it known that it could be done. No matter where you come from, if you try hard enough you can do what you dream.”