PORT ANGELES — Sonja Elofson won’t have to worry about paying for her degree in sports medicine.

The Port Angeles High School graduating senior was awarded a Gates Millennium Scholarship for outstanding minority students — which will pay for her education up through a doctorate, should she pursue that degree — at any institution of her choice, so long as her academic progress is satisfactory.

The award was given to 1,000 students nationwide out of 20,500 applicants this year.

Elofson — the school’s third Gates Scholar and the second from the Lower Elwha Klallam tribe — was one of 34 recipients in the state and the only one in the North Olympic Peninsula.

“It is such a relief to know that it is taken care of and that I won’t have any debt when I graduate,” Elofson said. “It is such a weight lifted off of me.”

Elofson, 18, will be among the 260 Port Angeles High School students who receive their diplomas at the graduation ceremony at the high school at 304 E. Park Ave. at 8 p.m. Friday. Attendees must have tickets from a graduating senior to enter.

Elofson, a cheerleader who plays softball and who has played volleyball, will pursue her sports medicine degree at Pacific University in Forest Grove, Ore.

“I would love to start my own business some day,” she said.

Port Angeles Assistant Principal Mary Ann Unger said she is excited for Elofson.

“Because she is the senior class president this year, I get to see her on a daily basis,” Unger said. “She has always done what she needed to as leader of the senior class and has always participated in activities throughout high school.

“She has done well academically, but beyond that she is just such a delightful person.”

Scholars program

The Gates Millennium Scholars Program was established in 1999, initially funded by a $1 billion grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.

It is intended to reduce financial barriers for African-American, American Indian/Alaska Native, Asian Pacific Islander American and Hispanic American students with high academic and leadership promise who have financial need.

It also provides graduate school funding for continuing Gates Millennium Scholars in the areas of computer science, education, engineering, library science, mathematics, public health or science.

It is administered through the United Negro College Fund, in partnership with the American Indian Graduate Center Scholars, the Hispanic Scholarship Fund and the Asian & Pacific Islander American Scholarship Fund.

Recipients may choose to attend any U.S. accredited college or university.

As part of the application process, Elofson was required to write eight essays, one of which was about a person who had impacted her life.

Essay about grandmother

She chose her grandmother Pattie Elofson, with whom she lived from the age of 11 years old.

“She has always been encouraging about sports and school,” she said. “She is a huge reason why I am where I am.

“Her work [as a social worker] is out of Oregon, so she even jokes about moving down there with me.

“But even though I don’t think she will, I will get to see her a lot when she is there for work.”

Elofson, an enrolled member of the Lower Elwha Klallam, said she is nervous about heading to a new school but ready for the challenge.

“I think my English class this year has been the best,” she said.

“Because it is [advanced placement] and not my best grade necessarily, it has really taught how college will be and helps prepare me on what to expect.”

Whitney Laughlin, assistant director for the College Horizons program, said she isn’t surprised that Elofson was awarded the scholarship.

Laughlin encouraged Elofson to apply and helped her through both the college and scholarship application process.

“She was such a hard working kid,” Laughlin said.

“She has not had all the advantages that some kids had, but she has really taken advantage of everything that she has had.”

During the College Horizons program — which is specifically for Native American students — Elofson visited Harvard University and Duke University to learn about applying for college, scholarships and what to expect from higher education.

“I’m so proud of her,” Laughlin said.

Throughout her freshman and sophomore years of high school, she also was in the Klallam language classes with Jamie Valadez as her teacher.

“It was a really good class,” she said.

“I still remember some of it, but when I go on the tribal canoe journey, we also relearn some of it so we can do all of the speeches.”

More than 13,000 Gates Millennium Scholars have been funded since the start of the program.

For more information about the scholarship, visit www.gmsp.org.

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Reporter Paige Dickerson can be reached at 360-417-3535 or at paige.dickerson@peninsuladailynews.com.