HOUSTON – KPRC 2 and American Furniture Warehouse are surprising 20 deserving high school seniors with scholarships in 2023. All students selected for scholarships have been nominated by their high schools.
The eighteenth $2,500 scholarship winner of the year is Nathalie Yanez, a senior athlete and sports photographer at Ross Shaw Sterling Aviation Early College High School in the Houston Independent School District.
As an athlete who competed in soccer and track, Yanez also explored her passion for sports behind the camera as her school’s sports photographer. Yanez’s skills earned her a highly competitive internship in sports photography with the National Football League.
An H.I.S.D. Ignite Scholar, Yanez is involved in several extracurricular activities including student council, future doctor’s academy, and student ambassador, in which she is dedicated to “strengthening the Raider community” for Ross Shaw Sterling Aviation Early College High School.
Yanez worked to maintain her grades through devastating setbacks, including the loss of her close friend and classmate Warren White, who tragically lost his life in January. Yanez’s childhood friend Brianna Rodriguez was among the young victims of the Astroworld tragedy. Yanez told KPRC 2, “With my friends passing away, it motivated me to live life for them and to continue doing the goals and finishing them for them.”
Yanez plans to study Criminal Justice and Psychology at Texas State University. Her career aspiration is to help children as a Forensic Psychologist.
You can see the scholarship surprise for Nathalie Yanez in the video player at the top of this article.