Chatham third Buffalo to win Seymour scholarship
Manteca High senior Alexander Chatham is one of 50 students in the state of California to earn a Seymour Memorial Award scholarship.
By GUADALUPE ENRIQUEZ
The Tower
For seniors pointed toward a two- or four-year university, the spring term offers a cruel first lesson: College is expensive.
To help offset the cost, Manteca High’s counseling center, like many across the country, offers its graduating class a list of scholarships. The main goal for these types of scholarship sponsors is to encourage students who might otherwise be discouraged by the enormous cost of continuing their education.
The counseling office sends out a list of scholarships, typically local ones, in hopes of students applying. That way, students have more resources for their education and any expenses they may have.
A Manteca High student that applied for and won the prestigious Seymour Memorial Award through the California Scholarship Federation (CSF) is senior Alexander Chatham, who has been a member of CSF for three years and president for two, earning a lifetime membership in the process.
CSF was founded with the help of Charles F. Seymour and his devoted wife Marian H. Seymour, and the Seymour Memorial Awards were created in their memory.
Manteca High senior Alexander Chatham has been a member of CSF for three years and president for two, earning a Lifetime membership in the process.
The Seymour Memorial Award is regarded as one of the highest scholastic honors given to high school students in the state of California with more than $100,000 awarded to a group of 50 graduating life members (seal bearers) each year.
Chatham was awarded $2,000.
To apply for this scholarship, students must be nominated by their CSF advisor and have earned the seal bearer status by the end of the first semester of their senior year. The seal bearer status is when a member has qualified to be in CSF for at least four terms of their high school career, including one term of senior year.
Denise Pasion, Manteca High’s CSF advisor, says Chatham was deserving of the award.
“Alexander is a very selfless person. He gives his time to CSF as a club, as well as other community service events,” Pasion said. “Alex has helped CSF grow as a club, been the president for two years, and helped with many fundraiser activities. Alex is also very passionate about his help in the community with animal rescue. He would love to see every animal have a forever home.”
Chatham is the third winner in school history to win the Seymour Memorial Award, following alumni Ravpreet Grewal in 2021.
“Honestly, I feel honored to be one of the few to win the Seymour Memorial Award,” he said. “It is really satisfying to be able to win an award for carrying out regular CSF duties, such as community service and grade maintenance.”
Manteca High senior Alexander Chatham is joined by Manteca High CSF advisor Denise Pasion during an awards ceremony for the Seymour Memorial Award.
Recipients of scholarships like these are able to receive considerable aid with college expenses. Manteca High counselor Frank Triglia, who has worked with Chatham, insisted there are a variety of scholarships available for students.
The process for applying is simple.
Students’ eligibility hinges upon who they are, their academic career, involvement in activities on campus and off, and community service. Triglia said students tend to underestimate the number of scholarships and money there is available to them.
“Students do usually take advantage of the money, at least those that apply,” he said, “but there always seems to be a lack of students who really could apply that don’t and they should. Maybe they feel like they’re too busy or they’re not worried about it. But they should take advantage of that opportunity.”
Chatham will apply his award toward books and supplies for his first year at college. UC Berkley is his top choice. Wherever he lands, though, Chatham will chase a career in medicine.
“After high school, I plan to focus on my studies and continue work in community service,” he said. “I plan to study neurobiology and psychology as a pre-med, hoping to attend medical school after my undergraduate studies.”