Foundations of East Chicago (FEC) loves hearing back from our scholarship recipients. We are so proud of their accomplishments and enjoy seeing the many different paths they each take. In this scholar spotlight, we caught up with Valencia DaSilva who graduated from Indiana University Bloomington in 2020. DaSilva, an East Chicago native who graduated from Bishop Noll Institute received the FEC scholarship from 2016-2020.
DaSilva applied her scholarship at IUB and pursued a Bachelor of Arts degree in East Asian Language Culture Mandarin Chinese. She applied for the FEC scholarship because she knew that it would help her financially achieve her goals—DaSilva comes from a family of seven and the FEC scholarship helped alleviate some of the financial burden from her parents.
Like millions of other students, DaSilva’s studies were interrupted by the pandemic in 2020. However, that did not deter her from graduating on time. She acknowledges the difficulties and hardships that online learning brought but her professors and even graduate students commended her on her work ethic and drive to learn.
Before the pandemic started, she planned to go to China to teach and gain more overseas business relations. The pandemic put a pause to this plan but she still has hopes on doing this once things get back to normal. She also plans to publish her fantasy books and become a famous artist and author. Right now, she’s networking and trying to expand her connections so that her art pieces, books, and jewelry line can reach more people.
DaSilva has advice for our high school seniors: Please apply for this scholarship! You will definitely benefit from financial aid throughout your college journey. Going to college can be pricey but if you can get scholarships, it can make everything so much easier.
Way to go Valencia! Foundations of East Chicago is proud of your achievements. We wish you the best of luck!
