RECIPIENTS

Hello! My name is Jackeline Jimenez Ayala. I was born in Tijuana, Baja California. While I was still young, my parents decided to move our family to the US,  more specifically, the border town of San Ysidro, CA in the hopes of giving my siblings and me better opportunities. Fast forward years later, I am now a first-generation college student at the University of California, San Diego where I plan on majoring in Chemistry. Currently, I am interested in two very different professional paths - environmental science and immigration law. One thing I am certain of is that whatever choice I make, I want to give back to my community. Not only by becoming a professional but using my resources in the non-profit sector. Ultimately, I aspire to become an individual my family and community can be proud of. In addition to the San Ysidro Rising Scholar Award, I am also the recipient of the AVID Founder Scholarship, the Lamp of Learning Scholarship, and UCSD’s Regents Scholarship. 

Angel Brianna Martinez is a first-generation college student and the child of a working-class, Mexican immigrant mother. Brianna grew up along the United States/Mexico border and has spent the majority of her time living between San Ysidro, California and Tijuana, Mexico due to her father’s deportation in her early childhood. Brianna's experiences living across two different countries have greatly shaped her identity and have fostered an interest in wanting to support her community in ways she largely viewed as unimaginable up until now.

As a UC Berkeley Regents Scholar and member of the SEED Scholars Honors Program, Brianna hopes her journey in higher education propels her towards a career in which she can serve her multinational communities: as a physician! Brianna is excited to carve an original path for herself in academic frameworks and beyond by pursuing a double major in Chemical Biology and Public Health to address some of the structural and systemic barriers that inhibit people from her community from receiving proper medical care.

Upon graduating from UC Berkeley, Brianna is interested in attending medical school, where she will continue working towards her dream of one day being a physician. The San Ysidro Rising Scholar Award has served as a stepping stone for Brianna in her journey as it has provided her with the financial and personal resources to better navigate higher education.

Kimberly Gonzalez-Zelaya (She, They, Any) is the proud daughter of  Jaliscience Mexican and Lencan Salvadoran immigrants. Identifying as a transfronteriza@, Kimberly calls Tijuana and San Ysidro, her double home, as she navigates the fluid and socially constructed borders of so-called America. 

They intend to double major in Sociology and Comparative Studies in Race and Ethnicity with a specialization in Chicanx-Latinx studies and a minor in Education at Stanford University. Her interests specifically concern the effects of surveillance, borders, language, and identity on immigration, incarceration and education. She aspires to become a public interest or immigration attorney; however, their ultimate goal is to work within education administration and policy.

In addition to being a part of San Ysidro High's first cohort of Rising Scholars, she is also a Questbridge Match Scholar, a Gates Scholar, a Hispanic Scholarship Fund Scholar, and a Stanford Leland Scholar. She owes her accomplishments to her wonderful teachers at San Ysidro, the never-ending supporting of her best friends, her parents, and most importantly, her little sister, Ahtziri. 

Apart from academics, Kimberly is an avid comic book lover, Mitski listener, and butterfly enthusiast. If she’s not geeking over a Marvel film or tweeting out their most recent thoughts, Kimberly prefers mostly to surround herself with good food and even better people.