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2024 PLV Scholarship Winner Beatriz Palacios on Growing Up in a First-Generation Family & Overcoming an Eating Disorder
I am thrilled to introduce Beatriz Palacios, the winner of the 2024 PLV Scholarship and a graduate of Foothill High School in Tustin, my mother Patricia’s alma mater. Earlier this month, my husband Shawn and I had the pleasure of meeting Beatriz in person at a café in Irvine. Putting a face to her application reaffirmed our decision. We were moved by her heartfelt expression of gratitude and inspired to learn more about the forces that have shaped her — both the hardships and the incredible triumphs. From the time she entered elementary school, Beatriz felt driven to achieve, harboring what she described as “hidden expectations” of herself in her…
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2024 Patricia Lynn Vermeulen-Tomocik (PLV) Scholarship: Ten Years Remembered
This spring, it will have been five years since the creation of The Patricia Lynn Vermeulen-Tomocik (PLV) Scholarship, the eponymous scholarship that I founded in my mother’s loving memory (1952-2014). This May will mark 10 years since her passing — a decade that has been both reflective and transformative, not just for me but for all whose lives have been touched by my mother’s legacy. Patricia’s spirit of compassion and generosity continues to live on and inspire others, even so long after her departure. I welcome you to read more about my mother’s life and enduring impact in my inaugural PLV Scholarship post. Last March, my mother’s mother Irene Vermeulen…
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2023 PLV Scholarship Winner Anita Tun on Political Advocacy & Activism
On a sunny afternoon in late June, my husband Shawn and I met with 2023 PLV Scholarship winner Anita Tun, a graduate of Yorba Linda High School. After reading about her and her family’s unique and harrowing life experiences and consequent resilience in her powerful application essay, we were honored to have the opportunity to meet with Anita at a local coffee shop to get to know her better and hear more about her plans to study Global Affairs and International Business at Georgetown University. Anita was soft-spoken, respectful, and insightful beyond her years; it was immediately clear to us that we had selected a scholarship recipient who was committed…
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2023 Patricia Lynn Vermeulen-Tomocik (PLV) Scholarship
Graduating high school seniors in Orange County, California are welcome to apply for the 2023 PLV Scholarship. I (Ann-Margaret Mercier) founded the scholarship in 2019 in loving memory of my mother, Patricia Lynn Vermeulen-Tomocik (1952-2014). The PLV Scholarship seeks to honor Patricia’s kind and giving spirit by supporting an outstanding young man or woman who has overcome personal hardship or adversity. I welcome you to read more about my mother’s life and legacy in my inaugural PLV Scholarship post. Since 2021, this scholarship has been completely self-funded. Anyone who wishes to contribute can email me at plvscholarship@gmail.com. Please note that while your donation is not tax-deductible, you can rest assured that…
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2022 PLV Scholarship Winner Aran Zakeri on Immigrating to America from Iran & Striving to Create a More Just World
2020 PLV Scholarship of Orange County Winner: Alexis Votran’s Interview
2024 PLV Scholarship Winner Beatriz Palacios on Growing Up in a First-Generation Family & Overcoming an Eating Disorder
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2022 PLV Scholarship Winner Aran Zakeri on Immigrating to America from Iran & Striving to Create a More Just World
In recent months, civil unrest in Iran has been front and center of the global political stage, galvanized by the unlawful murder of 22-year-old Mahsa Aminî. The young Kurdish woman, an aspiring lawyer whom family called by her Kurdish name Jîna (also spelled Zhina), was targeted by Iran’s morality police in September. After mere hours spent in police custody, she arrived at a hospital braindead before succumbing to her injuries. Her crime? Showing a few strands of hair beneath her hijab (headscarf) in a way that violated the Islamic Republic’s dress code for women. The Islamic Regime’s sheer brutality and utter disregard for the fundamental human rights and liberties of its citizens…
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2022 PLV Scholarship Winner: Natalie Salvatierra on OCD, Anxiety & Striving to Make an Impact
Our second PLV Scholarship winner this year is Natalie Salvatierra, a recent graduate of Foothill High School in Tustin. My mother Patricia — in whose loving memory this scholarship program was founded — graduated from Foothill in 1970. There’s another parallel, too, connecting our paths: as individuals with lived experience of anxiety and obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), both Natalie and I have a keen interest not only in mental health, but in spreading hope and awareness to those who struggle. Having just returned from the International OCD Foundation’s (IOCDF’s) annual in-person conference in Denver, I was delighted to meet Natalie for coffee one sunny afternoon in mid-July. IOCDF conferences are unique…
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2022 PLV Scholarship Winner: Theodore Thai on Pursuing His Love of Music
This year, I decided to award the PLV Scholarship to three recipients in honor of what would have been my mother Patricia’s 70th birthday. Each of these three winners embodies the heart of my scholarship program, as each has transformed personal stories of hardship into new narratives of growth. As my scholarship recipients enter adulthood, they carry with them hard-earned wisdom born of experience that can be used to lift up others on their own journeys. This blog provides a platform on which they can share their stories. Without further ado, I am proud to announce Theodore Thai as the first of this year’s three PLV Scholarship recipients. Theo is…
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2022 Patricia Lynn Vermeulen-Tomocik (PLV) Scholarship
Graduating high school seniors in Orange County, California are welcome to apply for the 2022 PLV Scholarship. I (Ann-Margaret Mercier) founded the scholarship in 2019 in loving memory of my mother, Patricia Lynn Vermeulen-Tomocik (1952-2014). The PLV Scholarship seeks to honor Patricia’s kind and giving spirit by supporting an outstanding young man or woman who has overcome personal hardship or adversity. I welcome you to read more about my mother’s life and legacy in my inaugural PLV Scholarship post. In past years, the scholarship application essay has emphasized the ways in which applicants have helped others or given back to the community. This year, our focus has broadened to more…
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2021 PLV Scholarship Winner: Nina Yến Nhi Nguyễn on Constructing Her Cultural Identity and Initiating Empowering Conversations
2022 PLV Scholarship Winner: Natalie Salvatierra on OCD, Anxiety & Striving to Make an Impact
2020 PLV Scholarship of Orange County Winner: Alexis Votran’s Interview
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2021 PLV Scholarship Winner: Nina Yến Nhi Nguyễn on Constructing Her Cultural Identity and Initiating Empowering Conversations
I am proud to announce the 2021 PLV Scholarship winner, Nina Yến Nhi Nguyễn, who graduated valedictorian at Rancho Alamitos High School in Garden Grove. Nina’s story includes her experience as a six-year-old child immigrant from Vietnam fiercely determined to help her family members create new lives in America. Nina assumed tremendous responsibility from a young age, not only translating regularly for her parents, but also overseeing such major financial operations as completing mortgage paperwork and choosing insurance plans before she was even old enough to drive a car. She worked multiple jobs throughout high school to help support her family, as well as provided financial assistance and transportation to…
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2021 Patricia Lynn Vermeulen-Tomocik (PLV) Scholarship
As we are all well aware, this past year has been unlike any other in recent history. In addition to claiming the lives of many thousands of friends and loved ones, the COVID-19 pandemic has cost each one of us the safety and predictability of the lifestyles we knew before. It has tested our resilience on many scales: as individuals experiencing collective hardship; as a nation undergoing rapid and tempestuous sociopolitical transition; and as a globe in a constant state of flux. As such, the PLV Scholarship Award seems particularly universally relevant and far-reaching in 2021. Graduating high school seniors are welcome to apply for the third annual PLV Scholarship,…
