White Pigeon student receives scholarship

Casey Soto, a senior at White Pigeon High School, recently received a $180,000 Naval Reserve Officers Training Corps Marine Option Scholarship.

The award covers four years’ worth of tuition, a $250 per month stipend and $ 750 per semester for books. The comprehensive application process involved standardized test scores, a writing component and a physical fitness component.

Out of 130 applicants nationwide, Soto was one of only 18 accepted during the first round.

She also has applied to Harvard and Notre Dame, and has been accepted to the University of Michigan with a full ride scholarship.

At college, she will include naval science among her courses, and work out with/live near fellow officer trainees. One summer she will participate in a six-week program with Navy personnel on submarines, and during the period between her junior and senior years she will attend Officer Candidate School.