Scholarship Winner | Jaelyn Moraga

Jet launched the Jet Future Business Leaders Scholarship in 2019 to offer college students the opportunity to win some money to put toward their education. With over 400 applicants this semester, the Jet team chose five finalists to have the chance to win via a public poll. The finalist with the most votes was Jaelyn Moraga, who will be awarded $750.

Jaelyn will be graduating in May from Xavier College Prep High School, based in Palm Desert, California. She has been accepted to a few different schools and is still deciding where she will pursue her degree, which will be in Business with a specialization in communications, marketing, and/or social entrepreneurship.

During her time in high school, Jaelyn has played varsity basketball and volleyball, participated and been a leader in her school's annual freshman retreat, started a club to raise funds to build a clean water well in New Delhi, India, and been part of the National Honors Society, National Art Society, and Student Leadership Council. Outside of school, Jaelyn practices as a yoga instructor and dedicates her time and skills free-of-charge to members of the community.

Jaelyn plans to work throughout college and hopes to study abroad in Spain or England. After college, her plan is to get a career in Business Management and/or International Business and eventually start her own business.

A word of advice from Jaelyn for anyone looking into business as a major and/or career is to "research the degree to make sure it is something you are interested in and could see yourself doing in 10 years. Also, what key lessons could that degree teach you in those 10 years to grow your overall knowledge".

If you know of a future businessperson entering or currently attending college/university, encourage them to apply to our current Jet Future Business Leaders Scholarship at https://jetsurety.com/scholarship/.

The prompt: "You are given a yearly salary of $75,000 and tasked with making a change in your local community. What do you do?"

Jaelyn's Essay:

Sophomore year my counselor, Mr. Kulevich, asked if I would watch his four kids for a Friday night. I quickly accepted and subsequently spent that evening watching Moana while eating Dino Nuggets. When it came time to leave, Mr. Kulevich offered me $50 for my services. Politely, I refused. He insisted on giving me the money so I told him, “I will accept a dollar an hour.” He smiled as he expressed how grateful he was for the much-needed night out. On my way home I pondered, $50 for a babysitter plus dinner and any other expense, is an expensive night out. Can all teachers afford a $50 babysitter? I considered the teachers I’d been blessed with, many of whom have shaped my life, and decided that I needed to develop a program that would provide them with this necessary service. That Saturday, I gathered my girlfriends and we designed a website entitled, “Sitters for Critters”. To connect teachers with the right sitter, we included bios for each volunteer and designated different services to choose from, all priced at $1 an hour. The service was a hit and together we were able to give back in a meaningful way. With a salary of $75,000 I would pay the sitters $12 an hour for their services while maintaining $1 and hour for teachers. I would also update our website to add a reference and screening portion that could help build the babysitters resume's for their future employment. The goal of the program would be to continue a service that I started before COVID-19. I would also look into extending the service into other nearby communities. Paying my peers a fair wage and building their resumes while providing a valuable service to teachers, many of whom have shaped and touched my life, is a great way I'd like to continue to give back to my community.