It was a morning of anticipation as Cox Charities hosted its annual Cox Scholars celebration at University Club on the UCI campus in Irvine, Calif. on June 12, 2019. Sixteen recent high school graduates from the Orange County and Palos Verdes areas received scholarships to help defray college costs.
This year, in celebration of its 20th anniversary, Cox Charities awarded a total of $40,000 in scholarships to sixteen students. Cox Charities is the philanthropic arm of Cox Communications and is funded by employee donations, matched by Cox, and overseen by an advisory board consisting of employees who volunteer their time. In Orange County and Palos Verdes, more than 60 percent of Cox employees are Cox Charities members, meaning they donate a self-determined amount per paycheck to support the community. Additionally, in the Orange County and Palos Verdes regions, Cox Communications in California has awarded more than $1.6 million in scholarships to date.
“Our scholarship program is very important to our employees who love reviewing the applications and learning about the impressive accomplishments of our local students,” said Sam Attisha, Senior Vice President and California Region Manager. “This year, Cox Charities celebrates its 20th anniversary in California and 20 years of employees giving back to the community, which makes these scholarships even more special.”
At the event, Attisha recognized elected representatives in attendance including Sergio Prince, from the office of Orange County Supervisor Lisa Bartlett, representing the Fifth District and Scott Voights from the office of Orange County Supervisor Don Wagner, representing the Third District. Both offices provided certificates for the students within their respective districts. Los Angeles County Supervisor Janice Hahn (not in attendance) also provided certificates for the students within her district.
The Cox Scholars program is open to graduating high school seniors who live in a Cox service area and meet various academic and community service criteria. For more information on the Cox Scholars program, visit www.coxcharitiesca.org.
About Cox Communications
Cox Communications is committed to creating meaningful moments of human connection through broadband applications and services. The largest private telecom company in America, we proudly serve six million homes and businesses across 18 states. We’re dedicated to empowering others to build a better future and celebrate diverse products, people, suppliers, communities and the characteristics that make each one unique. Cox Communications is the largest division of Cox Enterprises, a family-owned business founded in 1898 by Governor James M. Cox.
Meet the 2019 Cox Scholars
The students were selected based on their academic success, community service, leadership and commitment to their education.
The 2019 Cox Scholars for the Orange County and Palos Verdes regions are:
Laguna Beach High School Senior, Sydney Davison, will attend the University of Wisconsin – Madison this fall. She hopes to study computer science in the film industry. She enjoys solving engineering problems, but her true passion is using technology to express herself artistically with digital music and computer graphics. Her mom grew up in Cambodia during the Khmer Rouge genocide. She did not have the opportunity to attend school regularly and participate in extracurricular activities such as music and sports. Comparing her mom’s childhood to her own made her realize how lucky she is and inspired her to help kids in the community find their passion for things like reading and music.
Serenity Owens from San Pedro High School will attend UCLA in the fall. She aspires to be a pediatric surgeon. Owens volunteers in hospitals to hold preemie babies in the NICU. She remembers holding a 5.9-pound newborn and watching as his tears began to subside. She is also inspired to be a surgeon by her experience as a young child when her foster sister was hospitalized for having a rare bone disease.
Palos Verdes Peninsula High School graduate RJ Wakefield-Carl looks forward to attending UC San Diego to pursue a career in the computer industry, specialty cybersecurity. He has been inspired to pursue this career by his participation in the CyberPatriot program, involvement in Capture the Flag competitions, and his general interest in computers.
Joy Lee, another Palos Verdes Peninsula High School graduate, will attend at Loyola Marymount University in the fall as a Biology major. Her grandmother’s journey and experiences of being an obstetrician in a small Korean town helped to foster insight into what the biology field has to offer. Further, fighting a childhood illness at Children’s Hospital of Los Angeles guided her to regain her health and the doctor’s showcased phenomenal knowledge, skill, and kindness that inspired her to commit to volunteer at the hospital.
Madeline Wright from San Pedro High School will begin the fall semester at the University of Chicago to pursue a degree in Neuroscience with an emphasis in Psychology and
Philosophy. A Boys and Girls Club of LA Harbor member, Wright has also received numerous honors from the club, including the designation of the 2019 Boys & Girls Clubs Youth of the Year for LA County.
Heading to UC Santa Barbara in the fall, Joy Yen Kao recently graduated from Irvine High School and pursue an Economics degree. Kao is interested in becoming a financial consultant or going into the business field. Working as an intern for an entrepreneur who runs children’s business fairs throughout Orange County gave her an inside look into a career area she would be very passionate about.
Justin Nguyen from San Juan High School in San Juan Capistrano is enrolled at UC San Diego for the fall. Justin is interested in pursuing a career in cybersecurity. With technology being a large part of our everyday lives, he was inspired to find ways to defend against cyber threats. He is looking forward to becoming more independent as well as challenging himself by joining different clubs/organizations and trying new things.
El Toro High School graduate Aly Barriga, will attend Point Loma Nazarene University in San Diego this fall as a managerial organization communication major. Serving four years in the Associated Student Body (ASB) for her high school inspired her to study communications. She enjoyed planning and organizing events in her ASB role and looks forward to
making lifelong friendships, unforgettable memories and growing in in her faith. Further, her faith inspires her to serve in all parts of her community.
Christian Aguilar, a graduate from Capistrano Valley High School will pursue a degree in Kinesiology with the goal of becoming an athletic trainer. He was varsity goalkeeper in high school and has played sports his entire life. His experience with injuries inspired him to take a sports medicine class and learn more about how the body works and how to better take care of it. This class further inspired his college degree selection.
Aliso Niguel High School graduate Brooke Berry is enrolled at Boise State University for the fall. She is inspired by her brother, who suffers from severe speech delays, to pursue a career in speech-language pathology. Berry is a regular volunteer with Challenger Little League and enjoys seeing the joy on kids faces when they hit the ball on their own, make it to home base and hear cheers from the stands.
Rachel Yu, a recent graduate from Northwood High School in Irvine, is enrolled at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) with the intended major of Molecular and Cellular Developmental Biology. She is interested in pursuing a career in biological or medical research and wants to contribute to technological and medical advancements that would positively impact the well being of society as a whole. Serving the community is inherent to her because being able to help others is something she finds meaningful.
Enrolled at Standford University, Alvand Daliri recently graduated from University High School in Irvine. He is most interested in pursuing a career in Human Biology due to the complexity of biological systems. Daliri believes volunteering is absolutely essential for a society’s well-being and donates her time and talents to issues that are most important to her, specifically education-related causes.
Sarah Atashi, a graduate from Palos Verdes High School is enrolled at the University of Southern California (USC). Atashi will pursue a journalism degree from the Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism. Her interest in journalism was fostered by her involvement in the high school yearbook and the school’s weekly news show, “Live from 205.”
Another Palos Verdes High School graduate, Peter Chelebian is enrolled at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA). He is interested in pursuing a law because he wants to help people directly to the best of his ability. In his current volunteer activities, he feels inspired by the people he helps directly. As such, he’s received letters and updates from people thanking him for the difference he has made.
Keira Small is a San Clemente High School graduate who has enrolled at Arizona State University. She plans to study Biomedical Engineering and was inspired to put her love of science to good use working towards better treatments and possible cures for diseases. She is looking forward to meeting new people, growing as a person, and spreading happiness.
Enrolled at the University of California, Irvine (UCI), Giovanna Cortes recently graduated from San Juan Hills High School in San Juan Capistrano. She will major in Biological Sciences and wants to pursue a career related to nursing, more specifically a pediatric nurse practitioner. Her involvement in mentoring programs for the youth such as Big Brothers Big Sisters motivated her desire to focus on pediatric medicine.
Photo Credit: Cox Charities/ Kait McKay Photography
