The Marshall Scholarship is a prestigious award given to one senior in the state of Washington every year. This year, Camas High School’s very own Sophie Muro is a top five finalist for the award.

To be eligible for this scholarship each student had to be nominated by an adult community member, and then filled out a rigorous application. After this process, twenty of the applicants were selected to attend a social with the selection board for the scholarship. The social consisted of dinner and conversation with other nominees and selection board members. Once this stressful night came to a close, five students were selected as finalists. They then were interviewed by the panel of judges individually. The final applicants find out who won the scholarship on March 22 at a final ceremony.

Sophie Muro made valuable connections with the National Park Service through her four years of work at Fort Vancouver and was nominated for the scholarship by her Clark County Youth House advisor. After reading more about the scholarship, she decided to apply.

After going through the whole application process she felt “The nominee social was really stressful because you really had to sell yourself. The interview was a bit easier because it was more personal and there was no competition in the room with me, unlike the social.”

Even though Muro was not a fan of the competition aspect of the scholarship, she nailed each part of the process. Being a top five contender is a huge honor, and winning would be a big deal for Muro.

She stated, “I’ve been involved in at Fort Vancouver and with the National Parks Service for a long time now. Getting recognition for this, as well as the work I have done in peer counseling at the Clark County Youth House would mean the world to me.”

The Marshall Scholarship brings the winner not only honor, but a $2500 scholarship and a $500 paid internship over the summer. The winner also speaks at parades and various events. Muro is hoping to use the scholarship at University of Washington where she plans to study anthropology and art history.

Camas is very proud to have a CHS representative as a top five finalist for the Marshall Scholarship, and wishes Muro the best of luck on March 22!

UPDATE 3/22/17:

Sophie Muro won the Marshall Scholarship last week on March 22. After receiving the award she said, “I feel so honored to have received this award; there were so many talented other young adults in this category and I feel so lucky to have gotten to know them!” Camas cannot wait to see what the future has in store for this outstanding Papermaker!