OSU Institute of Technology student Julie Orellana Muy has been awarded the Jason Alvarado Memorial Scholarship, a $2,000 scholarship to help pursue her education and career goals.
Orellana, who recently graduated from OSUIT this spring with an Associate in Applied Science in Information Technologies, served as the student respondent and spoke on behalf of the 218th graduating class. She is continuing her studies at OSUIT to obtain a Bachelor of Technology in Information Technologies - Cybersecurity & Digital Forensics.
"I feel so blessed and thankful to have received this scholarship. It will help cover nearly half of my tuition for Fall 2021 and spring 2022," said Orellana. "It is yet one more stepping stone toward obtaining my bachelor's degree."
The scholarship is to be awarded to an individual that is a Junior or Senior in the BT in IT degree program, has at least a 3.0 GPA, is pursuing the Information Assurance and Forensics degree option, demonstrates community engagement and involvement and has an identified financial need.
"We selected Julie from the candidate pool as she was the best representative of the elements that scholarship focused on; community service, academic excellence and financial need," said Christian Bradley, dean of the School of Creative & Information Technologies.
The Jason Alvarado Memorial Scholarship was founded in memory of Jason Alvarado, a 2006 graduate of the OSUIT Bachelor of Technology in Information Assurance and Forensics, who died in 2008.
"Those that are selected for this scholarship are also students that will strive to make a positive impact on the field of information assurance and forensics after graduation- to 'pay it forward' as they progress in their security career," said Michael Hass, Information Technologies instructor.
The scholarship is to be used over two semesters, with half awarded in the fall 2021 semester and the other half in the spring 2022 semester.
"There is no use limitation on the scholarship," said Hass. "It does not need to be only used for tuition or materials. It is awarded to reduce the financial burdens of the student, allowing them to pursue their career goals more easily."
Orellana doesn't plan to stop her education after obtaining this degree. She intends on furthering her education with a Master of Business Administration to reach her ultimate goal of becoming a security manager at a banking institution.
"OSUIT would like to thank the Alvarado family and Communities Foundation for allowing us to award this gift to a student in our program," said Bradley. "The memory of Jason will live on through this scholarship and help a deserving student further this dream of working within the cybersecurity profession."