Each year, a small selection of students is randomly picked to receive a $1,000 scholarship at the Sun Youth Forum. Here is a quick look at this year's recipients:
Nicole Haddad
- Age: 17
- High School: Foothill
- Class: 2013
- Clubs/Activities: Student Council, National Honor Society, yearbook club
- Favorite Book: "Harry Potter"
- Favorite Movie: "Harry Potter"
- What Are You Listening to on Your iPod? Country music, Taylor Swift, Maroon Five
- Current Nevada Issue That Most Concerns You: Bullying and budget cuts.
- Current World Issue That Most Concerns You: Oil dependency.
- Plans: I'm planning to go to San Diego State University and major in psychology. I want to become a psychologist.
- How do You Want to be Remembered at Your High School Reunion? A leader and someone who was always involved and easy to talk to.
- How Long Have you Been in Las Vegas? My entire life.
- Best Part About Living in Las Vegas: It's a really good community. It's not all about the Strip.
- Worst Part About Living in Las Vegas: Stereotypes: partying, alcohol, not wholesome.
- Favorite part about the Sun Youth Forum: We had a great moderator, Sandy Miller. Students are really respectful.
- What does this scholarship mean to you? I feel very lucky to be here, but feel really lucky I was one of the ones chosen. It'll definitely help me.
Hector Vargas-Perla
- Age: 18
- High School: Valley
- Class: 2013
- Clubs/Activities: Theater tech
- Favorite Book: "The Messenger"
- Favorite Movie: None
- What Are You Listening to on Your iPod? Hard Rock: Motley Crue
- Current Nevada Issue That Most Concerns You: Job creation.
- Current World Issue That Most Concerns You: Global warming.
- Plans: I want to go to UNLV and major in engineering.
- How Long Have you Been in Las Vegas? 15 years.
- Best Part About Living in Las Vegas: I love it here. I don't plan on moving.
- Worst Part About Living in Las Vegas: There's not a lot of work done on our neighborhoods.
- Favorite part about the Sun Youth Forum: Getting our voice heard.
- What does this scholarship mean to you? The scholarship means I have a chance of attending college. It's a head start.
Riley Lawrence
- Age: 17
- High School: Coronado
- Class: 2013
- Clubs/Activities: Varsity volleyball, student body historian, National Honor Society, Habitat for Humanity
- Favorite Book: "Perks of a Wallflower"
- Favorite Movie: "Perks of a Wallflower"
- What Are You Listening to on Your iPod? Mumford and Sons
- Current Nevada Issue That Most Concerns You: Nevada spends too much on casinos and not enough on schools.
- Current World Issue That Most Concerns You: None.
- Plans: I plan to play volleyball in college and major in business. I just hope to make a difference in the world.
- How do You Want to be Remembered at Your High School Reunion? Smart person who was really involved.
- How Long Have you Been in Las Vegas? 17 years.
- Best Part About Living in Las Vegas: There's always a lot going on. It's a well-visited city: famous people and concerts.
- Worst Part About Living in Las Vegas: There's not a lot of attractions for children. It's an adult city.
- Favorite part about the Sun Youth Forum: Meeting kids I wouldn't have a chance to meet, and talking to and listening to their opinions.
- What does this scholarship mean to you? The scholarship means everything to me. It's funding my future, so every little bit counts. College has been a dream and this makes it more realistic.
Joseph Bennecke
- Age: 17
- High School: Desert Oasis
- Class: 2013
- Clubs/Activities: Golf, Desert Oasis Athletic Advisory Council.
- Favorite Book: "Duma"
- Favorite Movie: "Star Wars"
- What Are You Listening to on Your iPod? Incubus
- Current Nevada Issue That Most Concerns You: Education. The focus on tourism is too great.
- Current World Issue That Most Concerns You: U.S. economy and our involvement in foreign nations.
- Plans: I plan to go to UNLV and become a physics major.
- How do You Want to be Remembered at Your High School Reunion? A charismatic person who was involved and not afraid to stand up for others and be friendly.
- How Long Have you Been in Las Vegas? Nearly my whole life.
- Best Part About Living in Las Vegas: There's a lot to do, a lot of activities.
- Worst Part About Living in Las Vegas: So much geared toward tourists. They don't treat residents as well.
- Favorite part about the Sun Youth Forum: Being with higher level people and seeing their opinions and coming to a resolution. Having to explain your opinions.
- What does this scholarship mean to you? The scholarship means a lot. My parents can't help me, so I have to do it on my own. The money will help a lot.
Clarissa Crosby
- Age: 17
- High School: CSN HS - East Campus
- Class: 2013
- Clubs/Activities: I've been a competitive figure skater since I was 6. International Order of the Rainbow for Girls
- Favorite Book: "Harry, a History"
- Favorite Movie: "Harry Potter"
- What Are You Listening to on Your iPod? Taylor Swift
- Current Nevada Issue That Most Concerns You: I live near Lake Mead, so the new bridge and water levels concern me. Water levels are still very low.
- Current World Issue That Most Concerns You: Middle East and the civil war in Syria
- Plans: I'm majoring in political science at CSN and I'm hoping to continue studying it at UNLV.
- How Long Have you Been in Las Vegas? I moved to Vegas in 2003 from Southern California.
- Best Part About Living in Las Vegas: I like the community. It's a big city, but a small city.
- Worst Part About Living in Las Vegas: I hate the heat.
- Favorite part about the Sun Youth Forum: I like being able to discuss current issues of the day.
- What does this scholarship mean to you? The scholarship means a lot. My parents didn't budget for college. I would like to avoid student loans and being in debt for a long time, so scholarship money helps.
Allessandra Rizo
- Age: 18
- High School: Liberty
- Class: 2013
- Clubs/Activities: President of National Honor Society, vice president of the Advanced Placement Club, Environmental Action Club, Students Against Violence Everywhere, Art Club.
- What Are You Listening to on Your iPod? Nirvana
- Current Nevada Issue That Most Concerns You: Amount of food that's wasted in the casinos and not given to people who need it.
- Current World Issue That Most Concerns You: We're too divided. We need to be unified.
- How Long Have you Been in Las Vegas? 18 years
- Best Part About Living in Las Vegas: We have a lot of art here. The art scene is crazy.
- Worst Part About Living in Las Vegas: Not having enough activities for the younger crowd.
- Favorite part about the Sun Youth Forum: Being able to hear everyone's opinions and getting a new outlook on things.
- What does this scholarship mean to you? Anything that goes toward my education is great. Anything that helps is a great blessing. Allessandra won the Shelley Berkley Scholarship.
Apollo Horvath
- Age: 18
- High School: Chaparral
- Class: 2013
- Clubs/Activities: Varsity Basketball, center
- Favorite Book: I don't really read
- Favorite Movie: "Star Wars"
- What Are You Listening to on Your iPod? Club music, techno and rap
- Current Nevada Issue That Most Concerns You: Gambling addiction and education. I came from California where there were more requirements to graduate.
- Current World Issue That Most Concerns You: The global economy.
- Plans: I'm an enlisted Marine, going active duty. I want to get a business degree and try to get college credit in the military. Maybe own a business when I retire.
- How do You Want to be Remembered at Your High School Reunion? I want to be remembered as unique and funny.
- How Long Have you Been in Las Vegas? Eight years.
- Best Part About Living in Las Vegas: It's the entertainment capital of the world. It's definitely not boring, but if you're underage, there are a lot less things to do.
- Worst Part About Living in Las Vegas: The heat. It prevents other people from going out. Apollo won the Sandy Miller Scholarship.
Compiled by Sun reporters Paul Takahashi, Conor Shine and Tovin Lapan.
