Lots of tears and new dreams: Three UCSC students talk about impact of full-ride scholarships from historic alum gift

Christopher Zarraga Jimenez, 18, of San Diego, was getting ready to go to SeaWorld with friends one day last month when he sat on his friends’ couch to quickly check his email. 

Enrolled to start his first year at UC Santa Cruz this fall, Jimenez was waiting to hear back about his financial aid package. He was anxious, and still hopeful he would get some kind of scholarship even though there were just a couple weeks before the start of the quarter. 

With this all in mind, he opened his email and a message appeared with the word “scholarship.” He jumped up and couldn’t believe it. Was it a scam? Jimenez read the details about his full-ride Sabatte Family Scholarship and called his parents. 

They all cried on the phone together. His dad no longer needed to work a second job to help his son accomplish his dream of going to college. It would be fully covered.

“The adrenaline from the idea that I was going to be going with a full-ride scholarship into UCSC, I kid you not, it helped me overcome my fear of roller coasters that day,” he said. “I had never, ever wanted to touch a single roller coaster in my life. But with the adrenaline that was going through my head, I was like, you know what? Let’s go. I’m going on all of these.”

Jimenez is one of more than 40 first-year UCSC students making up the first cohort of recipients of the Sabatte Family Scholarship this year – made possible through the largest monetary gift the university has ever received. An alumnus, the late Richard “Rick” Sabatte, created the scholarship as part of his estate, giving $20 million as a term endowment to the campus. 

For the next 30 years, the university expects to award the scholarships to between 30 and 50 students annually. Students who apply to UCSC are considered for the scholarship based on their admissions and financial aid applications. Like Jimenez, all of the scholars are the first in their families to go to college, according to a university news release. 

The award covers the total cost of attending the university, including room and board, living expenses, tuition and books. 

Sabatte’s nephew, Jonathan Westen, said Sabatte was a lifelong learner and loved his time at UC Santa Cruz. He wanted to help the next generation of students achieve their goals. 

“This gift reflects Rick’s belief that everyone has a unique story and unique passions that drive them,” Westen said in a statement. “He wanted talented and creative students to be able to pursue their passions without worrying about how to pay the bills.”

Riley Sheppard-Keeney, 17, of Arroyo Grande, and Bereket Woldemichael, 18, of San Jose, also received the scholarship. 

Sheppard-Keeney remembers waking up the morning of Sept. 5 and reading the email notifying her. She couldn’t believe it, especially after applying to other scholarships for the past year and not receiving any. She called her aunt, who doesn’t normally get emotional, and told her the news. Her aunt was bawling on the phone. 

“She said, ‘I knew something would happen. All of your hard work paid off,’” recalled Sheppard-Keeney. “It felt really good.” 

After attending a presentation about UCSC as an eighth grader, she knew she wanted to go to the university. She fell in love with the idea of the campus embedded in nature. Sheppard-Keeney plans to major in literature and education and eventually become a high school or elementary school teacher. 

Because the scholarship relieved her financial burden, she’s now planning to study abroad. 

Woldemichael also remembers when he first learned about the scholarship. He truly couldn’t believe it. He waited a day before telling his parents because he wanted to be certain the scholarship was real. 

It was emotional giving them the news. They all cried. His father told him, “All of your hard work pays off,” and emphasized that he should keep that mindset throughout his time in college. 

Woldemichael expected he would be working a full-time job to support himself through college. With the scholarship, he’s now relieved of that financial stress, has time to join four clubs, socialize, learn how to surf and potentially add a minor or another major to his studies. 

“Whenever I think about the scholarship, I find myself more motivated to accomplish my goals because many people aren’t given this opportunity,” he said. 

With a major in computer science, and maybe a minor in business and finance, he hopes to start a company one day. 

Jimenez feels similarly. Without the financial burden he had long imagined, he now plans to add a potential major in biology to his computer science major. He also joined four clubs. 

“I want to see if I can add some sort of biology aspect into computer science,” he said. “Because I really love the idea of integrating artificial intelligence with medicine.” 

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