Chasing Dreams

Monday, September 16, 2019

W.W. Allen scholarship opportunity offers bright future to fresman from Bartlesville

As far back as he can remember, Fernando Gomez-Moran has enjoyed working with his hands, from building lego sets to toy cars.  

The summer before his seventh-grade year in his hometown of Bartlesville, Oklahoma, his mother enrolled him in the Boys and Girls Club, where he stayed while his parents were at work.  As the summer progressed, he experienced many opportunities through the organization to figure out what truly interested him.

“Our program is structured in such a way that we have the kids get involved in as many different things as we can,” said Jason Barta, chief executive officer of the Bartlesville Boys and Girls Club. “It is our goal with every child to help them discover
their talents.”

Gomez-Moran reiterated that "the Boys and Girls Club taught me that being unique is what has the ability to change the world."

In middle school, he decided to take a technical education course.

“My middle school offered a technical education course, and in it we worked on different projects, like Rube Goldberg machines, which helped me express my imagination and turn my thoughts into physical matter. I think that is where my passion for  engineering really stems,” Gomez-Moran said.

After Barta did a community presentation on the Boys and Girls Club, he wanted to get the word out about the W.W. Allen Boys and Girls Club Scholarship.

The scholarship, funded by W. Wayne Allen, retired CEO and chairman of Phillips Petroleum Co., benefits Boys and Girls Club members in high school who wish to pursue an engineering
education.

Barta reached out to Karen Lowe-Alton, the executive director of the Lowe Family Young Scholars Program, which Gomez-Moran has been involved in since 2012. The Lowe Family program
assists academically promising, economically disadvantaged students in the Bartlesville Public School System.

“Jason approached me to see if we had any Boys and Girls Club members, who were also Lowe Family Young Scholars, who were interested in engineering,” Lowe-Alton said. “I mentioned Fernando, and I mentioned to Fernando that he should inquire about this scholarship.”

Barta asked Gomez-Moran if he would be willing to help with Oklahoma State University’s College of Engineering, Architecture and Technology STEM summer camp.

 “I met with Fernando and his parents not only about the scholarship, but his availability to help out with our summer program,” Barta said. “We encourage our teen club members to apply for jobs at the Boys and Girls Club working with our
younger members. Fernando is such a wonderful role model to other kids; we felt it would be a wonderful opportunity for him to have a positive impact on others.”

The CEAT summer camp, Engineering Adventure, uses the Bartlesville Boys and Girls Club as a host site.

As an Engineering Adventure camp staff member, Gomez-Moran assisted in conducting the camp, where students in kindergarten through fifth grade learn engineering design principles with
interactive and fun projects based on hands-on STEM activities.

Gomez-Moran was already seriously considering attending OSU when Amanda Williams, CEAT Scholar development manager,
contacted him about everything the university could offer him, from scholarships to the educational opportunities in CEAT.

“Before I worked at the summer camp, I attended CEAT Discovery Days at the beginning of the summer between my junior and senior year of high school, and I got to see the classrooms,”
Gomez-Moran said. CEAT Discovery Days gives high school students the opportunity to explore various engineering disciplines through activities and presentations.

“Then, I attended the Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers (SHPE) Discovery Days, and I got to see the ENDEAVOR lab,” he added. “It is outstanding that a college will invest in its undergraduate students and build a multimilliondollar building to help them with their research.”

The offer of an incredible opportunity — the W.W. Allen Boys and Girls Club Scholars Program — really sealed the deal on the university Gomez- Moran ultimately chose.This OSU scholarship program awards incoming freshmen $15,000 per year for up to four years of study toward a bachelor’s degree in engineering.

“Scholars participate in enrichment activities and travel together,” Williams said. “In addition to the $15,000, he will receive $2,000 to participate in enrichment activities and $3,000 for international
travel.”

Gomez-Moran was also selected as a CEAT Scholar. To qualify, students must have applied to OSU, have a minimum 31 ACT score and 3.75 GPA and interview with a faculty member and a current scholar to assess their character, leadership abilities and affinity for engineering.

“I have been given an incredible opportunity,”
Gomez-Moran said, adding he plans to make good
use of his time at OSU.
“My personal goals while at OSU are to gain knowledge and to learn how to use that knowledge for myself and the community and people who supported me through some of the roughest times of my life,” Gomez-Moran said.

“I plan on graduating college and entering graduate school prepared to use everything I previously learned to research and develop technology that will better the world and humankind in its quest for greater efficiency and productivity.”

After graduation, Gomez-Moran would like to start his career with an aviation company such as Boeing, Lockheed Martin or Northrop Grumman before moving on to an automaker such as Subaru, Porsche, Ferrari or Lamborghini.

Gomez-Moran said he hopes his future career will allow him to support charities that ensure that the next generation of students are prepared to be educated.

“I have the best opportunity and empowerment at OSU to achieve my dreams,” Gomez-Moran said.