STEPHENVILLE — The dedication of four Reserve Officers’ Training Corps incoming freshmen has been recognized with scholarships covering tuition, plus a monthly stipend and textbook allowance.
Arianna Rosario, recipient of the four-year Army Scholarship for nursing awarded by the ROTC National Scholarship Board, competed against students from across the U.S. and is just one of 1,000 finalists. She comes to Tarleton from Katy, Texas, and is pursuing a bachelor’s degree in nursing.
“I am the middle child in a family of three kids so money for college is an extremely limited resource,” she said. “Without this scholarship, there would be no way to go to college and not owe thousands of dollars for the rest of my life.
“Tarleton’s size and traditions were a perfect fit for me. Every single administrator, faculty member and student made it feel like home. And the Corps of Cadets inspired me to come here because I wanted to be part of an elite group.”
Zemoni Hopkins, a College Station native majoring in wildlife science, received the four-year U.S. Army Reserve’s Minute Man Scholarship after being nominated by a USAR civilian aide to the Secretary of the Army.
“This scholarship means the world to me,” she said. “Not only does it help pay for my college career, it also allows me to serve my country like my family members before me. It introduced me to a program I am glad to call my family. The people are so friendly and always ready to give you a helping hand.”
Hopkins always thought she would attend Texas A&M, but after visiting Tarleton for a campus tour, she knew she was “meant to bleed purple.” She serves in the National Guard as a military intelligence specialist and one day wants to open a wildlife rehabilitation organization.
Psychology major Ciara Hopper, from Kilgore, Texas, received a four-year U.S. Army National Guard Minute Man Scholarship — one of only 11 across the state. She was nominated for the scholarship by an ARNG civilian aide to the Secretary of the Army.
“This scholarship means opportunity, giving me the potential to succeed in life and go far in my career,” she said. “It gives me the opportunity to go to college and achieve my goals of becoming a child psychologist and officer in the National Guard.”
Hopper chose Tarleton for its psychology program, but seeing that it also had a “Corps of Cadets program with such high values made it that much more clear that this is where I needed to be.”
One Tarleton cadet received the U.S. Air Force’s Type 7 scholarship, which will cover his four years of studies. Joshua Kilian, from Azle, Texas, is pursuing a bachelor’s in mechanical engineering. He wants to become an Air Force officer; his dad served as a USAF pilot for more than a quarter-century.
“This scholarship means I have accomplished what few others have,” Kilian said. “It also means that I can serve the three principles I was raised on — God, family and country — to the best of my ability without having the financial burdens of college debt hanging over me.”
For more information about Tarleton’s ROTC, contact Lt. Col. Ron Henry, Texan Battalion enrollment eligibility officer, at 254-968-1781, or visit www.tarleton.edu/rotc.
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