Q&A
with David Saavedra
M
eet David Saavedra, 2021 Clinton High School graduate. He is also the very first recipient of the EAST Student Scholarship. This scholarship was created and endowed by the EAST Board of Directors and EAST Staff to recognize outstanding EAST students who have made a difference in their communities during their K-12 career. EAST prides itself on offering quality support to students and wanted to make sure they continued to feel that support as they transitioned from an EAST student to EAST alumnus.
Q: EAST program you were a part of and for how many years:
I have been in EAST since middle school; EAST at Green Forest Middle School for one year and EAST at Clinton High School for four years.
Q:
Do you feel like any of those experiences prepared you for college and the job market? I feel like EAST prepared me in some ways for college, the job market, and life in general, by teaching me essential skills such as working with clients, writing formal emails, working on projects as a team member or leader, among other things.
Q: Describe how you felt when you learned that you would be the first EAST student scholarship recipient?
know about EAST?
When I learned that I would be the first EAST student scholarship recipient I was surprised, shocked, and thankful.
I would like them to know that EAST is an exceptional program that will help you grow as a person and develop a large set of skills by using resources that, otherwise, you wouldn’t have easy access to.
Q: Tell us where you will be attending
Q: What advice would you give to a
Q:
college this fall, what you will major in, and what you hope to accomplish with this degree.
My experience in EAST has so far been the best experience I’ve ever had in school. One of the things that I love about EAST is that you can use any of your skills to help others. EAST allowed me to express my creativity and work on things that I like, such as designing and making things in popular software. It also gave me access to resources that I didn’t have in other classes and made me aware of the skills I had to solve realworld problems.
I’ll be attending Bluegrass Community & Technical College and majoring in electrical engineering. I plan to leverage the knowledge that I will acquire to improve the world by founding companies and developing technologies that will help fix top-world problems such as climate change, health care, food waste, etc.
How would you describe your experience in EAST?
Q: What would you like the world to
student in EAST graduating soon?
Take full advantage of the EAST program! Make sure to use your time in EAST wisely and take as many opportunities as you can. And as Steve Jobs said, “Stay hungry, stay foolish,” meaning never be satisfied, and always push yourself and be willing to do the things people say cannot be done.
You can donate to the EAST Student Scholarship fund & support students just like David at supportEAST.org To learn more about the EAST Student Scholarship visit EASTlink.me/scholarship
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EAST QUARTERLY | EASTinitiative.org
EAST CEO & President Matt Dozier presents David Saavedra with the first EAST Student Scholarship on July 6, 2021 via Zoom.
