Divonte Williams— a 2021 Quartz Hill High School graduate who successfully balanced academics, soccer, choir, and volunteer work—was recently awarded the NASA Armstrong Employee Exchange Council’s 2021 Thomas W. Finch Memorial Scholarship.
The scholarship is available to sons and daughters of Armstrong employees and offers $2,000 per year for up to four years, contingent on full-time enrollment and a 3.0 GPA.
“The scholarship was extremely completive,” said Randy Thompson, scholarship committee chairman. “Through a blind evaluation process, Divonte Williams was the scholarship board’s unanimous selectee. We are pleased to award the scholarship to such an incredibly dedicated student, and we wish him the best in his educational endeavors.”
“I am proud of his determination and commitment to accomplishing what he sets his mind to, including academics and sports,” said his mother, Tameka Williams. “He doesn’t give up. He naturally has the drive and determination to accomplish his goals.”
Divonte said his motivation to go to college began with his parents instilling in him the value of education and knowledge. As a kid, one of his hobbies was rock collecting. That interest grew into a career path, which he plans to begin with studying geological sciences this fall at Cal State Northridge.
“I plan to gain hands-on knowledge and experience throughout my college career by taking advantage of all training, opportunities and other programs that become available,” Divonte wrote in his essay. “I want to study theories and hypotheses about the earth’s crust and develop my own hypothesis about what happens in the deeper layers.”
