Meet the farmworker's daughter who just landed a $350K scholarship to Stanford

SALINAS, Calif. — Everett Alvarez High School's valedictorian will attend Stanford University this fall, and one of the world's richest couples will be picking up the $350,000 tab.

Salinas-native Angela Gomez, 17, is just one of two Monterey County students to receive the Gates Scholarship from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation this year.

It covers all college costs through graduation, including tuition, room and board, travel to and from campus, along with other related educational expenses, according to the Hispanic Scholarship Fund.

"This means I have more liberty to study what I want and to pursue passions of mine that are more about civic engagement rather than try to pay off student debt," Gomez said.

According to Stanford's financial aid office, the typical undergraduate will spend $71,587 in the 2018-2019 academic year. Gomez plans to enroll in a five-year Stanford program that will earn her both a bachelor's and master's degree, which will all be covered through the Gates Scholarship, Gomez said.

As the Everett Alvarez valedictorian, Gomez had a 4.65 weighted GPA.

She said her father is a farmworker and she'll be the first in her family to graduate from high school, let alone attend college.

To settle on Stanford, Gomez had to eliminate a lot of the top colleges in the country. She was accepted into Yale, Columbia, Harvard, Princeton, Brown, Dartmouth, Cornell, UCLA, Berkeley and more.

Ultimately, Stanford's math program and its study-abroad opportunities won her over.

She plans to major in mathematics and computational science.

"I want to work on increasing math accessibility for low-income students because that's something I'm passionate about," said Gomez. "There weren't that many STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) opportunities when I was younger and I really liked it. So I figured I could help."

Motivations to do well in school changed as she grew older, said Gomez.

"It was the promise of something more," said Gomez. "What really helped me was having people who mentored me in a positive way."

While in high school, Gomez worked to get volunteers for events at her elementary school, John E. Steinbeck Elementary School, and to raise money for the school's art programs. She played varsity tennis and worked part-time jobs.

Jordana Henry, AP language teacher at Everett Alvarez High Schoool, said she admires Gomez's selflessness.

Gomez always helped others, such as letting her classmates know about scholarships opportunities and helping juniors with SAT preparations, said Henry.

"Angela is like a rose growing from the concrete," said Henry. "I always tell the students that it's uncommon for roses to grow from the concrete, so 'What are you going to do to help the other seeds in the concrete?' I feel like part of Angela's motivation for doing well is to come back and help the other seeds stuck in the concrete."

Gomez is not certain about her future after Stanford, but she said she'd like to work with a STEM education nonprofit and eventually possibly pursue a career in education.

"Mathematics and science have become such an essential part of society," said Gomez. "It's very important for the economy, for growth and also equitable resources that lead to socioeconomic mobility, which is a big thing in Salinas because a lot of us are low-income."

Gomez is the only recipient of the scholarship in Salinas and one of two in Monterey County. Robert Valencia of Marina High School is the other.

WSBTV