Heidi Sanchez Avila is the 2019 ThreeSixty Scholar! She receives a full-tuition, four-year award to study journalism, digital media arts and strategic communication at St. Thomas starting in the 2019 fall semester.
“Being the winner of this scholarship is a huge deal not only to me but to my family,” Sanchez Avila said. “It proves that doing what you love and being creative can be rewarding. It also means my family and I don’t have to worry about the what-if possibilities.”
Sanchez Avila, a 2019 graduate of Hiawatha Collegiate High School in Minneapolis, joined ThreeSixty in summer 2017. She participated in College Essay Boot Camp, Rookie Journalist Camp and News Reporter Academy; ThreeSixty’s school-year News Team; as well as radio and TV summer camps. She also participated in the American Asian Journalists Association’s 2018 JCamp, a prestigious program for top high school students nationwide.
During her senior year of high school, Sanchez Avila attended her first Timberwolves games through a partnership with the Star Tribune and Minnesota Timberwolves. She was one of three student journalists who sat courtside and had locker room access while covering the game. She interviewed players Karl-Anthony Towns and Tyus Jones, and her final story was published on the team’s website and mobile app.
“ThreeSixty for me has meant discovering a new passion as well as being able to find out new life skills that not only apply to journalism but to the real world,” Sanchez Avila said. “Being able to say as a high school student I know a lot of amazing people who all have so many different stories, and I’m able to personally know them, has also been something I’m so grateful ThreeSixty has taught me.”
“Heidi emerged as a leader in the program with so many younger students looking up to her. She is a brave storyteller whose college essay, ‘A Rainbow of Identities,’ continues to inspire,” ThreeSixty Journalism Program Manager Theresa Malloy said. “She is a confident storyteller with a mission.”
