UofL seniors have bold goals for future
By Mark Hebert
April 17, 2023—Two of the 2023 Kentucky Derby Festival Princesses say scholarships they received through Jefferson County Public Schools (JCPS) opened the door to their college success. Valerie Tran is a 2019 Fairdale High School graduate who received a Vogt Scholarship from the Community Foundation of Louisville while Mahshad Taheri is a 2019 Eastern High School graduate who was one of the first to receive a JCPS Employee Sponsored Student Scholarship. Both are now seniors at the University of Louisville. They were selected as members of the Royal Court based on their knowledge of the Derby Festival, poise, intelligence, personality, and campus and community involvement.
Valerie Tran
Tran says the $10,000 Vogt Scholarship she received allowed her to focus on academics and extracurricular activities at UofL without needing a job. Tran, whose parents emigrated from Vietnam to Louisville, is director of the largest student fundraiser on UofL’s campus—the raiseRed Dance Marathon—as well as co-founder of the Homeland Project, which helps immigrants in Louisville.
At Fairdale, Tran was class president her junior and senior years as well as president of Beta Club and the National Honor Society. She recalls a terrific environment for students with caring teachers.
“I’m very thankful for my time there,” she said. “I was able to be myself and build my confidence. The teachers really see a spark in every student, and I still keep in close contact with some of them.”
Now, Tran calls it “an honor” and the “realization of every little girl’s dream” to be a princess (Derby Princess). She is majoring in industrial engineering and plans to create more sustainable and innovate products in the fashion or beauty industry.
Mahshad Taheri
As a senior at Eastern, Taheri applied for the then-newly created JCPS Employee Sponsored Student Scholarship, now called the JCPS Superintendent Scholarship. After Superintendent Dr. Marty Pollio and a committee interviewed and selected her to receive a $2,000 award—her first scholarship—Taheri said it gave her confidence and opened the door for her to apply for, and receive, other scholarships.
“It was a turning point in my journey,” Taheri said. “Dr. Pollio and the selection committee members were the first to believe in me and my academic successes. I’ve got to show them that their decision to give me this scholarship was the right one.”
Taheri’s family moved to the United States from Iran when she was in seventh grade. It was at Eastern that she developed her passion for community service. Like Tran, she enjoys working with newcomers to America and helping them adjust to their new home—Louisville. At UofL, Taheri started the Middle Eastern and North African Student Association, works as a Diversity Student Ambassador in the Admissions Department and a resident assistant in Student Housing.
She is majoring in finance with a minor in biology. Taheri is planning to join her brother in dentistry school, preferably at UofL. She’s enjoying being a Derby Princess and with a spin of the wheel on April 15, Taheri was selected as the Derby Festival Queen. Taheri and the other four members of the Royal Court will be representing the Derby Festival at more than 70 events.
For both Taheri and Tran, their rewarding, successful college careers and the life paths they are on were paved, in part, by the scholarships they received through JCPS.
“I never imagined this would happen to me,” Taheri said.