Lynn Tech student wins prestigious scholarship

LYNN – Victor Vazquez?s mother was so excited when her son was awarded a prestigious college scholarship, she made him pose for pictures with anyone who looked important at the recent State House reception in Boston.Vazquez, a Lynn Technical Vocational Institute junior, now has plenty of pictures of himself with strangers, Johanna Smith, a Tech guidance counselor, said. “She?s really proud.”The junior is one of just 25 high school students in the state and the only Lynn public schools student to be awarded The Christian A. Herter Memorial Scholarship, a four-year scholarship that will cover half the cost of his college education or up to $15,000 a year.The scholarship is given by the Massachusetts Board of Education to high school sophomores and juniors who have excelled academically and overcome an obstacle to become high-achieving students.Vazquez says his hurdles have been both academic and economic.?I?m doing better in school. I never really did as good as I am now,” said Vazquez, who has a 3.7 grade point average. “It was also about my financial situation. I don?t have a lot of money.”Vazquez?s family immigrated from Puerto Rico to Lynn when he was seven years old. He is the first person in his family to receive such a scholarship, and the second to have plans for higher education after his brother, a Lynn Tech alum, attended ITT Technical Institute.In order to be considered for the scholarship, Vazquez needed two recommendations from teachers, and one from his guidance counselor.?He is one of the most motivated students that we have,” said Smith. “It?s a combination of natural talent and work ethic that makes him special.”He also needed to submit an essay about his leadership positions as a peer mentor and captain of the Tigers? swim team. He also competes on the Tigers? spring track and field team, and is a National Honor Society member.Vazquez?s favorite subject is science.His vocational concentration at Lynn Tech is in automotive engineering, a subject he chose for practical reasons.?I didn?t know anything about cars, and I wanted to learn in case my car broke down on the highway and I wouldn?t know what to do, and then I started to like it from there,” he said.Vazquez hopes to take his passion in science and engineering to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology to study mechanical engineering. He hopes to attend graduate school, and then to work on engineering cars or planes to become better and more efficient.Vazquez received word that he would be awarded the scholarship in early May, and accepted the official certificate and citation at a State House reception on June 1.He says he will frame the award and put it in his room.?It hit me that I did something big when my friends congratulated me on the scholarship,” said Vazquez.Asked what keeps him working hard and motivated, he said, “I want to be successful.”