Surprise, Surprise! Mariana de Maille named a national finalist for the Wendy’s High School Heisman Scholarship
“We were sitting in class and there was a knock on the door,” said Mariana de Maillé, senior. “And in walks some strangers I didn’t recognize, along with our principal and some of our other administrators, my mom, and a lady dressed up like Wendy (from the fast food chain).”
De Maillé was chosen as a national finalist for the annual Wendy’s High School Heisman scholarship. The Wendy’s fast food franchise created this award twenty years ago to recognize students who embody the Heisman Trophy ideals of excellence. Although there were over 20,000 applicants this year, the national award will be presented to one boy and one girl who go above and beyond in athletics, academics, and community service.
“I think I’ve taken ten (IB and AP) classes but I’ve also completed five college classes,” de Maillé said. “I’m currently enrolled in an additional college class.” On top of her academic successes, de Maillé also has a coaching license for soccer and is a certified disaster relief responder with the Red Cross. “I went through extensive training for that and so I’m able to coach young girls,” de Maillé said.
De Maillé applied for the award a month ago, and was selected as the female state finalist for California. 100 other students, a boy and a girl from each state and one representative from Washington D.C., were also selected as state finalists.
When the awards presenter and school administrators walked into her third period class on Nov. 10, de Maillé had no idea that she had been selected as a national finalist. “They described to the class what it was about and I found out that I was a national finalist which was really surprising — I had no idea,” de Maillé said.
When Kelly Welch, vice principal of athletics, found out who the winner was, she kept the information confidential so the winner would surely be surprised. She also planned the walk-in to de Maille’s third period class to maximize the impact of the exciting news. “The committee came to the high school and we did a presentation in her government class,” Welch said.
A total of twelve national finalists, six boys and six girls, were selected. On Dec. 14, they will travel to New York, where the winners will be announced. Even if she isn’t selected as the national winner, de Maillé has won $2000 for the school by being a national finalist. The entire event will be broadcasted live on ESPN from New York.
