Maria graduated from St. Rita Catholic School in 2009 and from Nolan Catholic High School in 2013 with the prestigious Chaminade & Marian Award. She is currently attending St. Mary’s University in San Antonio as a Biology major and Chemistry minor. Maria plans to attend medical school once she has graduated from St. Mary’s.

Maria was also recently featured in an article within the North Texas Catholic Newsmagazine. Below is an excerpt from the article:

There’s no doubt the STAR Sponsorship program made a difference in the life of Maria Barragan.

“If I didn’t have the opportunity to be in the STAR Scholarship Program, my life would be a complete disaster…honestly!” she bursts, with a bit of youthful exaggeration. “I would have been another statistic to add to the Hispanic dropout rate.”

Instead, the 18-year-old Nolan Catholic High School graduate attends St. Mary’s University in San Antonio where she is studying biology and chemistry. Her goal? A career in medicine.

You can find the article online here.