Meet TCC's All-Washington Scholars
All-Washington Scholars are chosen from each of the state’s community and technical college and honored at an annual event held at South Puget Sound Community College. The 2024 event will be livestreamed on YouTube starting 12:30 p.m. April 25. Congratulations to TCC's 2024 All-Washington Scholars, Maria Paula Amores and John Plinka!
Maria Paula Amores
Maria Paula Amores is currently studying computer science at TCC. Having experienced the violence of poverty, she is determined to rise above adversity and achieve greatness.
“Gathering my scattered dreams is hard, everything is rock bottom and poverty is the root cause,” Amores wrote in her All-Washington application.
Growing up in a disadvantaged community, Amores faced multiple poverty-related challenges. But they only made her more determined to gain an education so that she could make a positive impact on the world.
“Creating positive impact on others has always been a driving force in my life. I firmly believe that our actions have the power to shape lives and inspire change,” Amores wrote.
“Through personal challenges and obstacles, I have learned valuable lessons that have not only strengthened my character but also equipped me with the empathy and resilience to make a lasting impact on those around me.”
Amores chose to pursue a career in cybersecurity because she has witnessed the damage caused by cyber-crime and wants to protect vulnerable people from its devastating effects. In addition to being a full-time college student, she works full time as a virtual companion, monitoring patients who need to be continually observed and quickly identifying circumstances that could impact their ongoing safety and care. She has also made time to volunteer at St. Vincent de Paul and at her church.
Amores also cares deeply about mental health, and during the COVID-19 pandemic she formed a volunteer group to provide regular phone check-ins for isolated senior citizens, engaging them in meaningful conversations and providing emotional support.
“As I navigated my own challenges, I inevitably encountered individuals who were facing similar or even more difficult circumstances,” Amores wrote. “The challenges I faced have allowed me to connect with others on a deeper level, as I can empathize with their journey and provide guidance based on my own experiences.”
John Plinka
TCC graduate John Plinka currently studies environmental science at the University of Washington. Plinka’s life has included extremely varied experiences; before enrolling at TCC, he served in the U.S. Army, performed live music and theater for decades, and pursued a banking and finance career. Each experience was fueled by a desire to have a positive impact on the world around him, and as he turns his focus to ocean health, he hopes to use his skills and learnings to serve the coastal communities that are increasingly vulnerable to the effects of climate change.
“Coastal communities, which I have been a part of my entire life, are particularly vulnerable to the effects of climate change and would be positively impacted by increased local education,” Plinka wrote in his All-Washington application. “I intend to use my education in marine biology to inform my work as a scientific communicator.”
Plinka plans to pursue a graduate degree so that he can engage in biological oceanography research. He’d also like to develop education materials that could be used in formal education as well as in community and specialized settings, and he wants to write science articles for popular magazines and professional journals.
“The marine biome offers highly personalized connections between people and their environments as well as fascinating hooks to intrigue people who may be otherwise disengaged,” Plinka wrote.
Plinka was able to begin his journey as a science educator at TCC, where he worked as a biology lab technician, setting up equipment for class labs and helping to care for the salmon the college hatches and raises for an annual Earth Week release into Puget Creek. He also noticed that some of his fellow science students lacked experience working with common lab equipment such as Bunsen burners and microscopes, and this eventually led to an internship with the Systems Education Experiences team at the Institute for Systems Biology, which creates low or no-cost educational tools and materials that reflect modern research experience and distributes them to students around the world.