CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — Decades after his death, Dr. Hector P. Garcia continues to change the lives of Latinos and Hispanics.
“I don't think he's talked about enough,” said Adkins Middle School math teacher Mariella Jimenez.
Jimenez is just one person who credits Garcia for where she is today.
A few days after nation honored the life and legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., the Coastal Bend took the time to remember its own another civil-rights legend at a luncheon on Friday.
The keynote speaker for the yearly event was CHRISTUS Spohn Health System President Dr. Osbert Blow.
In 2017, Jimenez received the Dr. Hector P. Garcia Scholarship -- an unexpected, but exciting, opportunity.
“I was in the library doing homework, and so there was someone next to me,” she said. “I got the call saying I got the $20,000 scholarship and I was like ‘Oh my goodness!’ ”
The scholarship, which paid fully for her education at Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi, allowed her to become the first in her family to graduate high school and college.
She says she relied on her teachers to help her learn about higher education and scholarships, and now teaches her kids about what is available to them, and to never give up.
“With this scholarship, it made things a lot easier for me,” she said. “I think I wouldn’t have even finished college if it wasn’t for this scholarship. It just helped me focus on my school a lot better. I put more effort into it rather than being distracted working, the bills.”
If you would like information about the Dr. Hector P. Garcia Scholarship, contact either The University of Texas Medical Branch in Galveston or Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi.
