A reflection following the first Scholarship Breakfast Event in January 2007

Written by Vivian Olmos, parent of four GMS girls

We have been blessed with having all of our daughters benefit from attending GMS. Our family has seen up front the wonderful changes financial aid scholarships have made to many of these girls’ lives. 

I can recall reading about GMS in the local paper during its first year of existence. I thought to myself, what an awesome opportunity. Of course, I quickly thought of my own daughters, one of whom was a fifth grader at the time. As I continued reading the article and discovered the cost of tuition ($10,000 at that point), I vividly remember thinking it might as well be $10,000,000 because I knew it was way beyond our grasp. I didn’t have the imagination to foresee my family ever having a chance to expose our girls to such an elite environment.

Then along came a completely unexpected gift. I received a phone call from a family member who attended a meeting where Barbara Bayardo held a discussion about GMS at a Mountain View community function. She talked about GMS’ strong dedication to instilling a diverse environment and how they were seeking high-achieving girls of color who might not have the income to pay full tuition. I called GMS the next day and the rest is history…

My oldest daughter and our family’s first GMS alumna is now a senior in high school and just received notification of early acceptance to St. Mary’s College in Moraga, one of the seven colleges she applied to. She has remained close friends to two other girls who were also GMS scholarship recipients. Leslie, her best friend, just received her acceptance to Santa Clara University, and Valeska is awaiting her responses.

I know in my heart these girls would never have had the drive or ambition to continue to reach for their dreams if they had not received the confidence and educational fundamentals that GMS gave them during their three years there. They entered new surroundings that provided a different atmosphere than they’d ever been exposed to but came out with a strong motivation to continue their ongoing successful academic march. GMS prepared them well to go on to high school and thrive in whatever challenges they came across. My daughter has carried a lot of the skills she learned at GMS with her. She has built positive rapport with her teachers and has no fear of questioning something she may not comprehend. She encourages the rest of her classmates to push themselves, which in turn has eared her the respect of many of her peers.

As college approaches, these girls will once again be prepared because they have continued their confidence acquired throughout these years.

So please accept my very humble “thank you” for the tremendous efforts you put forth in preparation of this event. Although I may have written these words, I guarantee the voice of this message is from all families whose daughters have gained and grown from their experiences at GMS. These girls may be the first generation of college graduates in their families but definitely not the last. An inspiring new cycle has begun that will have no boundaries for these alumnae. I see it first-hand in just my family.

Thank you again,
Vivian Olmos