M.O.S.T. is asking its more than 4,000 strong cohort of alumni to help usher the next generation of high-achieving students into their own bright futures by becoming donors, in a new campaign dubbed Pay It Forward.
This week, even before the official launch of the campaign on December 1, former M.O.S.T. scholar and 2013 graduate of St. Agnes Academy Adriana Larrea made history as the very first Pay It Forward donor. We reached out to her to learn more about what motivated her to give and here we share her story.
I’m intentionally making this gift on Giving Tuesday. I have been so blessed in my life thus far and it all stems from M.O.S.T. Without that help, the opportunities wouldn’t have presented, and doors wouldn’t have opened for me to be where I am 10 years after graduating high school.
M.O.S.T was a part of my whole school career, starting in first grade at De La Salle Elementary. After elementary and middle school, I went to St. Agnes Academy for high school, again with the help of M.O.S.T., which was truly the starting point for the rest of my journey.
Since graduating in 2013, I went on to the University of Arkansas in Fayetteville, Arkansas and joined Kappa Delta sorority my freshman year. I studied and graduated with a degree in Biology and Spanish in 2018. Shortly after graduating, I landed a job with Eli Lilly, a pharmaceutical company, as a sales representative promoting and advocating for a drug in the Neuroscience space. I lived and worked in Fayetteville for about 3 years before moving to where I currently am- Fort Worth, Texas.
I am still working for the same company, have had opportunities to support Spanish speaking patients, and work to promote different products in different disease states. I am engaged, getting married March of 2024, and my fiancé and I recently bought our first house. We have two doggies- Millie, a 6-year-old golden retriever and Buddy, a 3-year-old goldendoodle.
I don’t know if it’s me getting older or just truly taking the time to reflect this year, but I truly do believe if it wasn’t for the opportunity to attend St. Agnes (which financially wouldn't have been an option) I don’t know if a big out of state college would’ve been in the pool of options. Everything since then has shaped me and my future thus far. Every person I’ve met, every experience I’ve had, it all stems from the opportunity M.O.S.T. gave me to attend St. Agnes.