Samo senior honored with scholarship by Rev. Dr. MLK Jr. Coalition
Jadyn Miyahira, Student Life Editor
Samo senior Cristian Hagos (’22) was awarded a $1,000 scholarship from a Santa Monica based non-profit organization known as the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Westside Coalition on Jan. 17. Out of six available honors, he received the Clyde Smith Award after submitting an essay detailing how Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s principles of non-violence influenced both the Black Lives Matter movement and his own life.
This scholarship opportunity was addressed to high school seniors and community college students from Westside Los Angeles. With these scholarships, the Coalition strives to push toward their mission of fostering MLK’s philosophies and strengthening equality, justice and love within the community.
For his English elective, Hagos is taking African American Literature with English teacher Nathan Fulcher who was ultimately the one who encouraged him to apply for the scholarship. Hagos was captivated by the books he read in Fulcher’s class, such as Between the World and Me by Ta-Nehisi Coates, and discovered his passion for African American studies—which he plans on minoring in.
Just around the age that he is now, Hagos’ parents arrived in the United States from Ethiopia to disassociate from its wars and politics when they were 18 years old. His family’s history has had a significant influence on the way that he views his life at Samo.
“I don’t take a lot of things for granted how typically other people would, like having the opportunity to go to Samo…And going through the whole college process is definitely different for immigrants,” Hagos said.
Hagos often finds himself being one of the few, if not only, Black students in his classes. He expressed that this has caused him frustrations, but is now something normalized for him—something anticipated. Hagos has and continues to face racial prejudice, marginalization and blatant forms of racism both in and out of the classroom, but rather than internalizing the bigotry, Hagos honors Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. by putting his six principles of non-violence into practice.
“A lot of people on the internet or even some people in real life are just, I’m not going to say racist, but don’t like Black people. It’s really shown me to pay them no mind and never get mad. I never get mad over someone calling me the N-word and actually, it happens a lot more than you think,” Hagos said.
He also directs that negative energy toward activities like community service, which he participates in generously with Samo’s Helping Hands club. Next year, Hagos aspires to study Biology at a University of California which will help him pursue a career in pediatrics. He hopes to be admitted to UCLA in particular due to its proximity to his family and friends.
Cristian Hagos (’22) poses with his scholarship certificate after recieving the Clyde Smith Award from Santa Monica’s Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Westside Coalition.