SCHOLARSHIPS

We have completed our due diligence on our finalists. We interviewed each finalist, read everything that was submitted on behalf of each of them, and reached out to people in the community that might know some of them. Selecting our winners this year was very difficult. Every finalist this year had the chance to win the extra $4000 scholarships. Every student interviewed well. That made deciding the winners even more tough. We considered factors such as grit, drive, effort, need, individuality, and community support. The decision-making process was difficult. But after careful consideration our winners of the extra $4000 are as follows:

Colby Byrnes, Longview HS (will attend UT Austin)

Zoe Brown, Longview HS (will attend UNT)

Kaitlyn Castro, Gilmer HS (will attend UT Austin)

Please congratulate these three winners and the other finalists as well. Since we accept applicants from all over East Texas, we are able to get an in depth look at the quality of the young men and women that our East Texas high schools and families are producing. If you watch the news, you likely worry about the future of our country and the world. But if you interview our finalists, you feel very good about the future.

I would like to thank all that applied. I would also like to thank all that wrote in and contacted us on behalf of the applicants (your comments mattered!). As we have said before, we read everything.

Please congratulate our finalists and our winners. They are truly special young men and women.

After much consideration, we have our list of finalists for the Monsour Law Firm Scholarships. Because of the COVID-19 virus, we extended our deadline to apply, just in case the virus caused any applicant difficulty. We allowed late applications with no penalty whatsoever.

As we stated previously, we planned on naming eight finalists who would each receive $1,000 and then select three winners from the group of finalists who would each receive an additional $4,000, for a total of $5,000 for each winner.

It was absolutely no surprise that the selections this year were extremely competitive. Our applicants were highly qualified, diverse, and interesting. Because of the quality, we were unable to select just eight finalists. The best we could do was limit the pool to ten finalists. So now, we will have ten finalists each receiving $1,000 and they will each be considered for the additional $4,000. Please understand that some absolutely outstanding candidates were not selected. That just shows how competitive the process was. In no particular order, our finalists are:

Fatima Akilo, Longview HS

Lauren Couch, Kilgore HS

Liley Bozard, Troup HS

Kaitlyn Castro, Gilmer HS

Matthew Hanson, Longview HS

Stephanie Bly, White Oak HS

Colby Byrnes, Longview HS

Luke Oxsheer, Pine Tree HS

Ainsley Daugbjerg, Pine Tree HS

Zoe Brown, Longview HS

As you can see, Longview HS dominated yet again. That comes from the simple fact that we received more quality applicants from Longview HS than any other high school. Thank you Kay Ray. Pine Tree was also well represented this year.

In the next week or so, we will call in each applicant for an in-person interview. We will of course take precautions. If anyone has anything they want us to know about our applicants, please share it with us. As we've always said, we read everything that is submitted. In fact, it is the quality of the application that makes the difference for those who are selected as finalists. Oftentimes, we will have students with similar scores and extracurriculars. However, the ones that present themselves the best in their application are the ones that succeed. Effort is important. Our ten finalists are all smart, hardworking young men and women that made a serious effort in their application. Please congratulate our finalists. We look forward to our interviews and getting to know them.

On a separate note, if you wish for us to know something about a candidate, please explain why you believe they should receive the scholarship. Often, we receive recommendations that simply state they know someone and that they are awesome and should win. But that does not really help us. What does help is if you explain why someone is awesome. Those details can make a huge difference.

Thank you to all who applied. Rest assured your applications were fully reviewed. It is our pleasure to help these impressive young men and women!