Falmouth Enterprise, June 16, 2023: “Falmouth High School Announces Class Of 2023 Scholarships”
The published list includes the names of over 100 recipients of many different scholarships offered by the Falmouth Scholarship Association, including Omar Arango who received 5 scholarships amounting to over $6,000, $1,000 was provided by the FHMNA Robert T. Smith Memorial Scholarship.
On May 19, 2023, the Enterprise published an article, “Colombian And Brazilian Falmouth High Graduates Heading Off To College” that includes an interview with Omar Arango (full interview below) and Joao Franca (click here to read Franca’s full interview and the published story in its entirety):
Falmouth High School seniors Omar F. Arango Cuellar (left) and João Victor B. Oliveira França, both pursuing careers in computer science, are off to college this fall.
Article by Gilda Geist:
Language is no barrier to college admissions for two Falmouth High non-native English speakers who are off to college this fall. Seniors Omar F. Arango Cuellar, 20, and João Victor B. Oliveira França, 17, came to Falmouth Public Schools when they were still learning English and are on track now to earn advanced degrees.
On a recent Thursday, inside the Falmouth High guidance office (the entryway of which is lined with dozens of college pendants), the pair took time out of their school day to talk about their journeys through the Falmouth school system.
Omar
Omar has spent time in Falmouth on and off throughout his life. He has vacationed here a few times, and he attended 8th grade at the Lawrence School in 2016. Though Spanish is his native language, he learned English at his home school in Colombia, so going to an American school was not too challenging, he said.
“I had a nice English basis,” Omar said. “My English wasn’t that perfect, but I could communicate, understand, speak, read easily.”
Omar returned to Falmouth in June 2021, when he was 18 years old.
“The main reason why I moved was because of COVID,” Omar said.
The town his family lived in relied heavily on tourism, so when COVID hit, his family suffered economically, he said.
“My plan was always go to college,” Omar said.
But in the midst of COVID, there was no money for college. So Omar and his family moved to the United States, where he might have a better chance of success, he said.
Omar plans to study computer science and engineering at the Massachusetts Maritime Academy. This field of study is not necessarily his passion, Omar said, but he is good with numbers and electronics, and he knows he can make a good living. Omar plans to return to Colombia when he has enough money to buy a house, he said.
Omar said he applied to many colleges, unsure of which his family would be able to afford. When he got into Mass Maritime and learned he got a state scholarship to attend, he started to get excited about the prospect of going there.
“I wanted something military because it’s not just about becoming smarter, but also the discipline,” Omar said.
And an added bonus is that Omar loves the ocean—he lives near Falmouth Heights Beach, and his dad sometimes takes him along to his job driving the ferry between Nantucket and Hyannis.
Omar is looking forward to going on Mass Maritime’s sea term (a 50-day ocean voyage is required of all marine engineering students at the school), but he is not looking forward to shaving his head.
Omar and João offered advice to younger ELD students.
João said he noticed that many English learners hold back trying to speak English because they are afraid of getting something wrong. But for João, the solution is very simple: “If people don’t get what you’re speaking, try it again.”
Omar agreed.
“People here will understand that it’s your second language and you’re still learning,” he said.