In the News

BASIC to Award $64,550 in Scholarships to 47 Borregans

Posted July 15, 2018

By Joanne IngwallBorrego Sun, summer 2018

Forty-seven scholars, eight named awards, and the story of a $2,000 scholarship in 1960s New York that changed the course of Jerry Goldsmith’s life.

This year’s scholars

Some of the schools these scholars plan to attend are the College of the Desert, Palomar Community College, CSU Fullerton, Humboldt State University and the University of California, San Diego.

Some of the schools these scholars are attending are Grossmont Community College, CSU San Marcos, San Diego State University, San Francisco State University, the University of Nevada Las Vegas and Montana State University.

In memory of loved ones

This year, BASIC is both proud and humbled to be awarding several scholarships in memory of loved ones, many of whom were long-time Borregans and all of whom were committed to the value of higher education. The recipients of these special awards are:

The Williamson Memorial Scholarship

Our oldest named scholarship, for scholars planning to attend a community college · Franco Delgado, Aurora Ramirez · and for a scholar making the transition from a community college to a 4-year school · Fernando Fuerte

The Dr. Edith A. Schmitt Memorial Scholarship

For a student planning a career in the healthcare and medical field · Karen Garcia

The Dann Perry Memorial Award

“Paving the road to success through vocational training” · Erik Tulving

The Jim McFarland Memorial Automotive Technology Scholarship

For a career in automotive technology · Lorenzo Vilches

The McFarland Family Teacher Education Scholarships

For those completing their teaching credentials · Kaitlen Caruso, Bretnee Schmaderer

PEO Scholarship

For a woman scholar · Mariana Arias

The Jerry R. Goldsmith Memorial Scholarships

For students pursuing careers in healthcare or science, or with specific need · Jamie Blakeley, Kevin Camacho, Michelle Delgadillo, Yuridia Leal, Victor Lopez, Natalie Spieckerman

The Jerry Goldsmith Memorial Scholarship

Our website explains the background of all of our named scholarships, but here we present the story of the Jerry Goldsmith Memorial Scholarship. It is a heartfelt and generous contribution from his wife, Sharon Goldsmith.

Jerry Goldsmith was the son of German Jewish immigrants who fled the Holocaust to come to the United States in 1938. They came with no English and no money. Jerry’s mother cleaned houses and his father held a variety of jobs in order to survive. Jerry’s parents died within a month of each other when he was 17, leaving him and his brother nothing but debts.

Jerry went to live with an aunt and uncle in New York City. Even though the public colleges in New York City did not charge tuition at the time, Jerry despaired of being able to go to school because of the money required to buy books and pay other fees. A local philanthropic organization, alerted to Jerry’s situation by his uncle, gave him a small ($2,000) scholarship.

On a practical level it meant that he had funds to buy books and pay subway fare to commute to school every day. He still worked every day while he was in school, as a busboy, then a waiter, then a line cook, to pay school expenses and help his aunt and uncle with household expenses.

Jerry graduated from City College of New York with a degree in Chemistry in 1964. He immediately went into the Peace Corps in the second group assigned to Ghana, where he taught chemistry at a teachers’ training college. Jerry entered the business world after returning from the Peace Corps and retired as Vice President of Marketing for a leading international professional organization representing medical laboratory directors and researchers in the medical diagnostics industry.

Jerry and Sharon came to Borrego almost every year for 25 years before his death. Jerry was an avid birdwatcher and conservationist. He loved the area, and some of the happiest times of his life were spent here. He cared about the young people of Borrego he met over the years. He admired their courage and dreams, and he well understood the challenges of being a child of immigrants who came to the United States with very little. Jerry and Sharon were long-time supporters of the BASIC scholarship program, and they both read and commented on every single application the scholarship committee received while Sharon was a member. Jerry always said that the scholarship he was awarded, as he was trying to figure out how he could possibly go to school, changed the course of his life.

About the author

Joanne Ingwall

Joanne S. Ingwall, Ph.D., is Emerita Professor of Medicine (Physiology) at Harvard Medical School, having retired from an active research career in cardiac energetics in 2012. Since moving back to California in 2006 she has poured that energy into Borrego, including the ABDSP Paleontology and Botany Societies, and above all the BASIC board, where she has served as treasurer, on the scholarship selection committee, and as associate director of the Cradle to Graduation program.

← All stories & news