Metro Detroit Students win $35,000 in Taco Bell Scholarships

METRO DETROIT, MI — Taco Bell just announced that it was awarding $3 million in Live Más Scholarships to 300 students, and four of them are from the Detroit area. They collectively won $35,000, and were chosen out of the 8,000 young people who applied to this year’s scholarship.

Here’s a look at the winners:

Robin Ryce from Detroit (won $10,000)
Robin hopes to use her passion for engineering to improve society through innovation. She also hopes to inspire more women and minorities to go into the field of engineering. Robin is a freshman in the College of Engineering at the University of Michigan. Check out Robin’s application video here.

Jenna Battani from Macomb (won $10,000)
Being immersed in the deaf community her whole life, Jenna hopes to use her passion for sign language to provide increased access to interpreters in hospitals. She will pursue a degree in American Sign Language Interpreting at Rochester Institute of Technology. Check out Jenna’s application video here.

Raquel Zwick from Livonia (won $10,000)
After traveling to the Amazon rainforest when she was 16 and meeting medical volunteers there, Raquel decided that she was going to become a dentist. She hopes to lead a life of service as a medical volunteer so that she can provide greater access to dental care to those in need. Raquel is a Taco Bell employee who is pursuing a degree in Biology at Michigan State University. Check out Raquel’s application video here.

Kayla Thomas from Lathrup Village (won $5,000)
Kayla is passionate about the hidden attributes of physical beauty, and hopes to use her knowledge of science and medicine to become a dermatologist for all people, especially for minorities. Kayla is pursuing a degree in Public Health at Johns Hopkins University. Check out Kayla’s application video here.

After seeing its Live Más Scholarship application double to 8,000 applicants this year, Taco Bell knew it was important to double its funds to $3 million, according to organizers. The Live Más Scholarship is designed to help youth and employees pursue their unique passions that may not necessarily fit into the traditional “academic” or “athletic” categories.

Scholarships range from $5,000-25,000 per student and contribute to the Foundation’s goal of awarding $10 million by 2022. Winners are not chosen based on academic merit, but rather the passion exhibited in a 2-minute video where applicants discuss what they love to do.

Image via Edelman