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Grand Canyon senior Deya Ramos receives $55,000 in scholarship offers

Grand Canyon senior Deya Ramos will attend Arizona State University this fall and plans to study engineering. Loretta Yerian/WGCN

Grand Canyon senior Deya Ramos will attend Arizona State University this fall and plans to study engineering. Loretta Yerian/WGCN

GRAND CANYON, Ariz. - After receiving three scholarship offers worth a grand total of $55,000 from three of the top universities in the state, Grand Canyon School (GCS) senior Deya Ramos decided she's going to throw in her hat with Arizona State University (ASU) this fall.

Always a student who excelled in academia, Ramos has a GPA of 3.79 and will graduate as class salutatorian for 2016. Ramos said deciding which school to go to was a tough decision, especially after she found out how much each were offering her.

Ramos applied to ASU, Grand Canyon University (GCU) and University of Arizona (UofA) before the scholarships were offered. Each university offered a variety of merit scholarships to outstanding students in their first year at the university.

Ramos was offered an $8,000 scholarship from ASU, a $27,000 scholarship from Grand Canyon University (GCU) and a $20,000 scholarship to University of Arizona (UofA), which would be spread out in even increments over the next several years.

Ramos, who plans to study mechanical or civil engineering, said she accepted ASU's offer because of its high ranking engineering program.

"I was thinking about UofA because of how much money they offered me but the ASU engineering program is better," Ramos said.

Ramos is hoping to minor in pre-med and said if an engineering degree doesn't work out she plans to become a children's doctor.

"I've always liked those doctor shows and when I was little I always said I wanted to be a doctor," she said. "I like little kids so I might be a pediatric doctor."

ASU, located in Tempe, Arizona, is a public research university ranked number one in the U.S. for innovation, dedicated to accessibility and excellence, according to the school's website. ASU also tops the list of "most innovative schools" in a newly released U.S. News and World Report college rankings for 2016.

Ramos is looking forward to graduating next month from GCS but said she will be sad to leave the comfort of Grand Canyon, where she has attended school since kindergarten. She has been actively involved in sports, including basketball and volleyball and competed in Odyssey of the Mind for six years. In eighth grade Ramos was promoted to high school with a 4.0 GPA and was the eighth grade valedictorian.

When she is not studying or in school Ramos works part time at Bright Angel Bicycles and likes to take long walks. She said she normally goes to Flagstaff once or twice a month where she likes to go to the theater. Ramos said heading off to the big city will be a big change.

"ASU is going to be a lot bigger and a different atmosphere I guess," she said. "I haven't gone to any other schools so I'll have to get used to having so many other people around and getting to know the city and the campus is going to be a change."

Ramos toured both the ASU and UofA campuses and said the one thing she'll need to acclimate herself to is the heat.

"They were both going to be hot anyway," she said. "So I'll get used to that."

Ramos said one of her mentors has been GCS teacher Amy McBroom.

"Even though I didn't always have a class throughout middle school, she's always kept me on top of things," Ramos said.

McBroom said she has known Ramos forever and coached her Odyssey of the Mind team. She said Ramos has always been a curious student who is open to ideas and not afraid of hard work.

"She is pretty tenacious about a lot of things, when she needs help she asks, she doesn't just sit there," McBroom said. "She knows that if she doesn't know something the first time the second time is better and the third time is even better yet. She just gets better and better, she takes a risk. She's a risk taker."

McBroom said because Ramos does take risks she has been able to take that courage and become a stronger student.

"I think that's a challenge for a lot of people, is stepping up," McBroom said. "So maybe that's the whole thing, she's stepped up, taken a risk and bloomed. Hopefully she's open minded enough to know that she might need to bend because that's how trees survive so they don't snap, they have to bend. So maybe she'll be ready now to not be top dog but to actually be ready to bend a little because it is going to be a new, eye opening experience no matter what."

Having grown up at the Grand Canyon Ramos said she doesn't visit the Canyon every day but said she will probably miss it when she leaves.

"Maybe when I leave I will miss it but right now I rarely go there," she said.

Ramos has two sisters, Frieda Ramos attends Northern Arizona University and Natalie Ramos is a freshman at GCS. Ramos's father works for Grand Canyon Airlines and at Canyon Plaza. Her mother also works at Canyon Plaza in Tusayan.


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