Morales-Aguilar Earns Full Academic Scholarship to UT Arlington

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Alitzel Morales-Aguilar

(CEDAR HILL, TEXAS) Alitzel Morales-Aguilar is a first generation college student with two older sisters, both of whom graduated from the University of Texas at Arlington.

“I don’t have enough words for it,” Morales-Aguilar said. “My parents gave up so much for us. My mom stayed home and raised us until I was in middle school. My dad worked multiple jobs. He’s a carpenter, and he delivered pizzas at night to make ends meet. A few years ago, he started his own business. They wanted us to have the opportunity to have an education – something they didn’t have easy access to in Mexico.”

Morales-Aguilar, who is graduating 12th in the Collegiate High School Class of 2023 at 1 p.m. Saturday, earned a full academic scholarship to UT Arlington.

“I’ll never take the opportunity for granted,” said Morales-Aguilar, who graduated from Dallas College with an Associate’s Degree last month and will begin UTA as a junior.

Morales-Aguilar plans to study Political Science. Her ultimate goal is to become an attorney, and she’s thinking about immigration law.

“I think about my parents’ process, and I’d like to be the connection for others,” Morales-Aguilar said. “Seeing a great group of attorneys helped me want to become one.”

Morales-Aguilar was involved in various activities at Collegiate. She was President of both the campus’ Business Professionals of America (BPA) and National Honor Society (NHS) chapters and the secretary of the Dallas College-Cedar Valley Green Club. Morales-Aguilar served as the Historian on the Senior Planning Committee and as a member of the Student Leadership Committee for Gear Up.

“I never felt like I was taking on too much – all of my classmates and teachers were there for me,” Morales-Aguilar said.

She was also a captain of the Cedar Hill Tennis Team as a junior and senior.

“We had a strong bond between classmates, and I really gained an incredible group of friends,” said Morales-Aguilar, who attended Highlands Elementary, Collegiate Prep Elementary and Collegiate Academy Middle School.