Pacific Union College
Fifth Annual Maxwell Scholarships Awarded to Incoming Pacific Union College Freshmen
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he Maxwell Scholarship is Pacific Union College’s most celebrated student award and its most prestigious scholarship. The Maxwell Scholar Program is named in honor of Pacific Union College’s longest serving president and the only alumnus to serve as the school’s top administrator, Dr. Malcolm Maxwell, who along with his wife Eileen dedicated his life and career to Adventist education and ministry. Each year since 2009, five scholarship recipients have been selected, and their gifts in academics, leadership and service honor Dr. Maxwell’s legacy from the moment they begin attending PUC.
the application process, which includes sharing personal experiences in formal essays and demonstrating significant Christian leadership and service experiences. Of the hundreds of incoming freshmen, only five applicants could be selected as outstanding finalists and deserving recipients of the first-place award of $15,000 in annually renewable scholarship funds. For the 2013-2014 academic year, the Maxwell Scholar Program selected as their finalists Armando Camacho-Santos, John Reynolds Jr., Caitlin Terukina, Taleah Tyrell, and Charlene Wang.
Armando Camacho-Santos
Armando Camacho-Santos of Concord, Calif., achieved success both in athletics and service during his time as a student at Pleasant Hill Adventist Academy. Before graduating with high honors from PHAA, Camacho-Santos managed to find time to volunteer to homeless communities in the Bay Area, both play and coach varsity soccer, attend a mission trip to Belize, and serve as a group leader for younger students during a spiritual retreat to Leoni Meadows. CamachoSantos, who is also a first-generation college student, felt blessed to receive the scholarship. “In fourth grade, I moved to California after living in Mexico my whole life,” Camacho-Santos recalled. “I came in speaking zero English. I still remember all the hours my teacher Mrs. Sanders spent with me, trying to teach me the regular work plus a new language. So when I was told that I was one of the finalists, all I could do was smile and say thank you, over and over.”
trips to the Philippines and Kenya, Reynolds served as the student association president at Hawaii Mission Academy his junior and senior years, leading the way in several significant campus renovations, as well as being the varsity basketball and volleyball captain for three and four years respectively.
Caitlin Terukina
Caitlin Terukina of Moreno Valley, Calif., is another academically successful finalist who demonstrated spiritual leadership during her time in high school. In her years at Loma Linda Academy, Terukina ministered to her classmates as senior class president, to children as a Vacation Bible School leader at Mission Road Seventh-day Adventist Church, and to the
John Reynolds Jr. Armando Camacho-Santos
The Maxwell Scholars are chosen from applicants who must demonstrate academic success throughout high school. The selection committee learns about the scholars through
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pacificunionrecorder.com
The second finalist, John Reynolds Jr. of Kailua, Hawaii, who also goes by JJ, is a newlyminted graduate of Hawaii Mission Academy in Honolulu. Reynolds spent much of high school consciously preparing for collegiate success and post-secondary leadership scenarios. In addition to high academic honors and mission
JJ Reynolds