Estacado senior receives $180,000 scholarship from U.S. Marine Corps

One of the nation’s most-competitive college grants is the Frederick C. Branch Leadership Scholarship, which is geared to high school students who aspire to serve as officers within the United States Marine Corps.

This year’s honoree is Omar Burrola, a senior at Estacado High School. Just a few minutes into an awards ceremony held at Estacado Monday evening, three Marines presented Burrola with a symbolic check for $180 thousand.

Military service has been a legacy in his family for generations.

“My Grandpa served 32 years in the (U.S.) Army, so it’s always been my dream,” he said. “My mission to continue on the heritage if you will.”

When asked why he chose to serve as a Marine, Burrolo said he looks forward to the intensity.

“The Marine Corps, they’re “The Few, The Proud,” and I feel like they’re the most-prepared out of all the corps. They definitely do a lot of the training. They get their hands dirty a lot, and that’s what I like about the Marine Corps.”

Burrolo serves in Estacado’s Naval Reserve Officers Training Corps (NROTC), and plans to do the same at Prairie View A&M. There, he will major in engineering. As for military sciences, he will study homeland defense.