It is with great pleasure that we announce Roxana Ponce as the fourth recipient of the Friends and Family of Marty Boryczewski Scholarship. As a result, Roxana joins Sarah Shirkey, Sean Rabbit and Michael Iamurri as Friends of Marty scholarship awardees. Roxana will receive $5,000 towards her tuition at Morris Catholic High School in each of the 2014-2015 and 2015-2016 school years.

Roxana Ponce was born in Peru and lived there before coming to the United States at the age of 5. Roxana, her mother and her brother made the trek to the United States, but to ease their financial footing, her father has had to remain in Peru.

When not spending time with her devoted family, Roxana likes to focus on her art. She works hard on her drawing in hopes of improving each session with practice with hopes of reaching the pinnacle in an art/design career. There is no doubt a tremendous parallel between Roxana and Marty. Marty worked tirelessly at his craft until he reached his goals and it is clear that Roxana shares that trait with him.

While Roxana was slow to get involved early in her Morris Catholic experience, she has since enjoyed branching out and trying new things. Over time she made many lasting friendships that she knows will last beyond graduation. During her sophomore year, Roxana realized how much more difficult her schoolwork had become and in true Marty style, she made the decision to work harder to make sure she would reach her goals.

That wasn’t the only decision Roxana made during her sophomore year. As a sophomore Roxana took a risk and started playing softball. Despite it being a new experience, she would soon come to see it is a lot of fun! In addition to her enjoyment of softball, she also got involved in many clubs expanding her extracurricular activities. Among those she participated in are the Art Club and Key Club. As a member of the Key Club, Roxana and her fellow classmates work with and help others in the community. It was a wonderful experience.

For her junior year, Roxana will start her journey towards a college that will hopefully help her achieve her art goals. Before she graduates though, Roxana knows she has business to finish in high school and is very appreciative for the opportunity to do so at Morris Catholic by means of the Friends of Marty scholarship.

“I am truly grateful for having been chosen to receive this scholarship. It really helps my mom who works so hard and sacrifices so much for me to go to school. I really want to thank everyone who is helping us out by allowing us to receive this scholarship. My sincerest gratitude to all of you.”

Roxana’s Theology teacher was kind enough to provide the following quotes on our new award winner:
“Roxie is a very sweet and gracious kid. She is a woman of faith and is extremely funny. She is very welcoming and is always willing to help with anything.
She is always smiling. She is never afraid to “look outside the box” and has huge ideas. “

Congratulations Roxana and best of luck reaching your goals!