Local Kid Wins Prestigious Scholarship!

Press release from South Fork High School:

May2016 007 (1)Local South Fork High School senior Quinn Magpie of Redway has been awarded the prestigious Millennium Gates Scholarship, funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and administered by the United Negro College Fund.

One thousand 2016 Gates Millennium Scholars were selected from 53,000 applicants nationwide and will receive complete funding through four years at the college of their choice. The award may be extended into grad school should the student choose one of the program’s eligible majors.

Established in 1999 with the goal of developing Leaders for America’s Future™, the GMS program is funded by a $1.6 billion grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, making it the largest single gift to a scholarship provider. Each year, the program enables more than 5,000 students who must be African American, American Indian/Alaska Native, Asian American/Pacific Islander or Hispanic American to attend and graduate from more than 1,100 of the most selective private and public schools in the country.

Last winter, Quinn made his way through the difficult and lengthy application process which included writing eight essays on various topics. His essays included his thoughts on leadership, dealing with unfair treatment, personal skills and weaknesses, and aspirations for the future, and reflect his desire to impress the judges with short and meaningful messages that would stick with them. “I imagine the judges to be sitting up at midnight, reading a whole lot of these essays. I wanted to write something inspiring that they would remember.”

In early March he received email notification that he was a finalist. “We were very excited,” says Miranda Parson, Quinn’s mother. “I wasn’t even exactly sure what it meant, but Quinn was pretty sure he was going to get the scholarship at that point.” The family had to obtain a letter verifying his Cheyenne and Arapaho heritage through the tribes of his father and paternal grandmother, provide a high school transcript, and submit a letter proving acceptance to college. In late April Quinn was notified that he was indeed a winner.

Quinn will be attending the University of California at Santa Barbara where he intends to study Linguistics. He may focus his studies on the academics of the field, or he may take a more practical path towards a career in speech pathology. He is fascinated by Asian languages which he says are organized in a way that allows him to utilize his math skills. Speech pathology is a field that interests him as a long time recipient of speech therapy.

Quinn was also accepted at UC Berkeley, considered by some to be a more prestigious school, but chose UCSB for its smaller class sizes, more pleasant campus atmosphere and greater access to professors at the undergrad level. He is looking forward to exploring the many extra-curricular activities available to him. “I’m looking forward to meeting lots of new people and to having a fun and active student life.”

Quinn would like to thank his mother, Miranda Parson, for encouraging him when the application process became difficult. “She wouldn’t let me give up.” Family friend Lauren Oliver was one of his recommenders whose contribution he appreciated greatly. His English teacher at South Fork Bill Richards acted as his nominator and was also instrumental in the honing of Quinn’s writing skills and providing invaluable support throughout Quinn’s high school career.

“I also want to give a shout out to Mr. Gummersall,” said Parson. “Quinn had struggled in 9th grade English, but when he got into World History as a sophomore, Mr. Gummersall told him how much he looked forward to reading his work. That was the first time a teacher told him how smart he was, and he really began to believe in himself then.”

Quinn will also be honored at this year’s North Coast Forest Industry’s High Climber Luncheon, an annual event honoring local high school seniors who have achieved great success despite various obstacles. Quinn will be attending the luncheon with his family and South Fork Principal Jim Stewart on May 19th in Eureka.

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16 Comments
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Spinnerholm
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Spinnerholm
7 years ago

Awesome! Congratulations!

Julie Wilson
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Julie Wilson
7 years ago

Wonderful to see a smart young man win this scholarship. Use it Quinn, show the world Humboldt County has the best young talent..

Congratulations, make us all proud..

:)))
Guest
:)))
7 years ago

Great job Quinn!!! You’re a rockstar!! Making southern humboldt proud!!!

Dyerville Loop is Not Alderpoint
Guest
Dyerville Loop is Not Alderpoint
7 years ago

Quinn, We are all soooooo proud of you! Go for the good life.. you deserve every bit of goodness coming your way. Wonderful to have so many amazing mentors who believe in you, and want to share the the joy of learning. You made our day to hear this news….. Congradulations! And as your grandfather Calvin used to say;” Here we go, off into the future”…

realist
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realist
7 years ago

Outstanding, Congrats to all involved, especially mother / son. Dont look back, shoot for the stars Quinn. Awesome story!

G-ma
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G-ma
7 years ago

Congratulations Quinn for all your hard work,it will pay off.Your on your way to great things,and Mom nice job for never giving up and showing your son to never ever give up your a good example of.a great Mother,so congrats to you HAPPY MOTHERS DAY

Dt
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Dt
7 years ago

Congratulations Quinn, may you travel far and enjoy this adventure. I bet many others will benefit as a result.

BananaNut
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BananaNut
7 years ago

Congratulations Quinn! You rock!

Maya
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Maya
7 years ago

You have made us all proud, Quinn! Go out and show the world what you’ve got. We can’t wait to see what you do!

amimissingsomething
Guest
amimissingsomething
7 years ago

Quinn, This is outstanding performance for one of our own Humboldt kids. Quinn you and your entire support group should be pleased by earning this award. Lots of hard work and it all paid off. Amazing how that happens. Take care and Good Luck in the coming years of college. You should be very proud of this achievement!

yay!!!
Guest
yay!!!
7 years ago

As its mothers day time, here’s a big huge shout out to momma Miranda, one of the kindest most devoted hard working and fun people I have ever met. Kudos to her on raising her boys and to Quinn for your great achievement!!!! You have worked hard and honored yourself, your family and your community. Way to go!!!

VHDA
Guest
VHDA
7 years ago
Reply to  yay!!!

I agree and couldn’t of said it any better! Congratulations Quinn and Momma Miranda!! Here’s to an especially
Happy Mother’s Day!!!

...
Guest
...
7 years ago

Quick edit to the article, it is ‘Gates Millennium Scholarship’ and not ‘Millennium Gates Scholarship.’

Singley Hill
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Singley Hill
7 years ago

Absolutely OUTSTANDING! UCSB is a great educational institution and I’m sure that you will enjoy your time there (besides learning a lot). You’ve done your homework and you’re reaping the rewards of that. Keep it up and don’t limit yourself to speech pathology. Linguistics is a wonderful field and it will open up a myriad of possibilities for you. I don’t know you personally, but I would welcome the opportunity to do so.

t-roc
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t-roc
7 years ago

This is so awesome. We need more of this positive and inspiring info..less tweakers more achievers. .

joe
Guest
joe
7 years ago

such bull crap that he has to prove he has indian in him. What he qualifies every where but can’t be white? How do they get away with that? if there was a scholarship that excluded any race besides white. everyone would loose their shit. sorry to get distracted with the racism. Good job! glad you were able to prove you weren’t totally white.