MARINE CORPS BASE QUANTICO, Va. -- Jimmy Green had just graduated from Quantico Middle/High School and was on vacation with his family in Ohio when he got a call from the principal saying he’d been nominated for a scholarship from the Tiger Woods Foundation.
“He told me this was available and that I had to take quick action on it,” Green said. Two days later, he had written his essays, finished the paperwork and submitted his application.
Now, he is attending George Mason University on the Earl Woods Scholarship, which is worth $5,000 a year and renewable for up to four years. The scholarship program, named for Tiger Woods’ father, also places students in summer internship programs, finds them mentors from their chosen career fields and invites them to annual professional development workshops.
“It’s not only helping to fund my education — it’s building me as a person,” Green said.
QMHS Principal Michael Johnson said Green was an easy choice when he got a call from the foundation asking for a nominee in early July. “He really represents the best of Quantico Middle/High School, and he certainly deserves the Earl Woods Scholarship,” he said.
As commander of the school’s Marine Corps ROTC battalion, Johnson said, Green helped the unit to become one of the top battalions in the country. He also mentored younger students and graduated with a grade-point average of about 3.6.
“He’s a closer. You ask him to do something and it’s done,” Johnson said.
This year, seven students nationwide were awarded Earl Woods Scholarships. Not all are children of military service members, but the foundation targeted military sons and daughters for the specific scholarship Green won, reaching out to military installations and other organizations and school districts throughout the Washington, D.C. region, said Emily Taylor, the foundation’s vice president of communications and marketing. Five students were nominated.
Green’s military heritage was the subject of one of the essays he submitted for the scholarship, in which he wrote about his stepfather, an enlisted Marine now working in procurement for Marine Corps Systems Command at Quantico.
“My stepdad has been the force that’s guided me through my life, and I just look up to him a lot,” he said.
“I was actually one who reviewed his application, and I fell in love with his essay right away,” said Michelle Kim, program manager for the scholarship program. “It has to do with his relationship with his stepfather and how much he respects and wants to be like his stepfather. It was really touching.”
Most of the scholarship winners are first-generation college students, and Green more or less falls into that category, although his stepfather recently completed an associate’s degree.
Taylor said one reason the scholarship program includes mentors, workshops and internships is that first-generation college students have a harder time graduating because they don’t have family members who understand what they’re going through.
“Our kids don’t just get a check and report back. We get to know each and every one of them,” she said.
Although his mentor hasn’t been selected yet, Green did attend a retreat through the program in Anaheim, Calif., before the school year started.
“The precollege retreat gave me some insight into what I should expect in the first couple of weeks,” he said. “It released a little bit of stress.”
Although he’d always planned on joining the Marine Corps, Green ended up getting an Army ROTC scholarship, so he’s contracted to commission as an Army officer for four years after college.
For now, though, his mentor will have to be someone who can guide him toward a career in his selected college major, criminology. “After my career as an officer, I’m looking into the [Drug Enforcement Agency] or the FBI,” he said.
Green said he is confident the foundation will support him in his career path. “They send emails and text messages to check in. They’re constantly reaching out a hand,” he said.
— Writer: mdicicco@quanticosentryonline.com