Jocelyn Pantoja's 2nd Scholarship

I went to the first touchdown back in 2004. I went as one of the campers for two years. After that, I went as a camp counselor. I have volunteered every year up to 2017. This year I was unfortunately not able to help each day as I have in the past. I am one of the youth leaders here at Verbo and have served in the ministry since I was 17 years old (9 years now). In addition, I was also a Sunday school teacher for several years and have recently been asked to help organize the ministry in order to better serve the children of Verbo church. I have been in the sound ministry since 2011 and have enjoyed it very much.

Left to Right: Jocelyn Pantoja, Susan Stevick, Patty Cordova, and Pastor Orlando Cardona,
at Verbo Church, Redwood City, CA

I was one of the first hired tutors for the Verbo Family Services program where I was able to connect with families from our community and assist students with their homework. I was unable to return the next school year as the hours interfered with other responsibilities I had.

As far as my education, I went to Clifford school from K-8, then Sequoia High school. I then went to Cañada College and graduated from there May 26, 2018. I was at Cañada from 2011-2018, the reason being I started working full time and it became very difficult to take classes that fit my work schedule. After many semesters taking only two classes at a time I was finally ready to transfer. Fall 2018 I started a new journey at San Jose State University where I am pursuing a bachelor’s in child and adolescent development. I will be the first in my family to receive a bachelor’s degree and even the first in my extended family. I have since then completed my first year at SJSU and have been invited to be a part of the Phi Kappa Phi Honor society due to my academic achievement as well as making the Dean’s list.

Although I am pursuing a bachelor’s degree in Child and Adolescent Development and I have enjoyed the new challenges SJSU has tested me with, I plan to continue my studies after graduation. This Fall I will be applying for graduation as I meet the unit requirements and will graduate May of 2020. It is with much excitement that I share with you that I took this summer to prepare for the Law School Admissions Test and will be applying to attend Fall 2020. My hope is to help those children who like me, have had to put up with custody battles, foster care and abuse. It is simultaneously an exciting yet difficult season of my life but after months of sharing my desire to pursue this to God, I felt Him telling me to go for it.