Page 44 - LVGL Summer 2021

SNGA

THEIR FUTURE

IS BRIGHT

DESERVING YOUNG PEOPLE EARNED COLLEGE SCHOLARSHIPS
AND ONE WINNING ESSAY MADE A GAMBLER GET EMOTIONAL

Story by Brian Hurlburt, LasVegasGolfInsider.com

n the outside, Bill Walters might seem like a All my academic life, I have been mainstreamed with hear-
regular, ole gritty Vegas gambler. But on the ing students in all my classes. I went to a magnet STEM
inside, and when the public isn’t watching, middle school, where I was the only deaf student. I am cur-
Walters, who operates Bali Hai Golf Club and rently enrolled in a challenging magnet STEM program at
O other businesses, appears to be a softie. His Ed W Clark High School, where I am the only deaf student.
emotions “ranneth over” recently upon reading the win- Academically, I am succeeding in my classes. Math is my
ning essay of Kristina Chenevey, who earned the $5,000 favorite subject! I am taking Honors and AP classes, and
Bill and Susan Walters Las Vegas Golf Hall of Fame schol- will graduate with an Advanced Honors Degree. I have a
arship after edging out a strong pool of candidates. Walters weighted GPA of 4.75.
shared with hall of fame president Joe Kelly that he was
brought to tears by Chenevey’s inspirational words. Even with the Cochlear implant, I may still miss half of
what someone says because they may not be facing me, or
Get ready, because you just might be moved to moisture too many words may sound alike. So, I am working twice as
from the eyes when you read just a few paragraphs straight hard as my hearing peers to understand what someone else
from the heart of this courageous and outstanding young is trying to tell me.
person.
Later in the essay, Chenevey reveals that she has been a
The Beginning of Chenevey’s Essay: volunteer for five years at No Limits for Deaf Children,
and that her future plans are to study cybersecurity at the
My mom is a single parent. She adopted me and my sister Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT) in New York. The
from Russian orphanages when we were each two years old. school has a hearing student body of 14,000 and a deaf stu-
When she chose to adopt me, she did not know that I was dent body of 1,100, the largest in the national according to
deaf. When she adopted me at age two, I had no language. Chenevey’s essay. Chenevey, a self-admitted introvert, says
Within four months of bringing me to the States, she had she morphs into an “online warrior” when on the computer,
me fitted with my first Cochlear implant. The second was which also brings out the best in her.
implanted when I was four. With the Cochlear implants, I
can hear and speak. I do not use sign language. The money earned through the hall of fame scholarship will

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