Pueblo County junior selected for prestigious program at Yale University
Pueblo County will soon be represented at a prestigious enrichment program featuring 1,800 high school students from 150 countries.
Zora Malone, a junior at Pueblo County High School, was selected to participate in the Yale Young Global Scholars program. Her application was selected from a batch of 10,000 — the largest number of applications in the program's 12-year history.
"My cousins Shane (Trujillo) and Praxedes (Quintana), they've been college counselors and they recommended it for me," Malone told the Chieftain. "They told me I had a chance and that it could be really good just to go somewhere new, to get out of Pueblo, push myself and challenge myself in a new environment."
Malone will participate in the program's "Solving Global Challenges" track when she arrives on the Yale University campus in July. It will be another memorable experience for Malone, who previously provided coverage of the Major League Baseball World Series and All-Star Game as the 2021 Chevy MLB Play Ball reporter.
"I wasn't really sure if I'd be accepted," Malone said of applying for the Yale program. "Now that I have, it kind of shows me what I'm capable of... (Being accepted) showed me that I should take more risks like this."
Through participation in the Serving Global Challenges track, Malone and her fellow participants will be tasked with crafting solutions for issues with global implications. Topics discussed as part of the track include gender equality, poverty alleviation and other objectives named in the U.N.'s list of 17 Sustainable Development Goals.
Malone is no stranger to problem solving: she has worked to tackle local food insecurity as a "fooducate" with the Pueblo Food Project Youth Council and has completed community needs assessments with the Packard Fund for Pueblo's Youth Roots Action Council.
She also volunteers with the Center for American Values, is an industry engagement officer with the Technology Student Association at Pueblo County High School, participates in National Honor Society and Girl's Cabinet and competes on the Knowledge Bowl team and the Hornet track team.
After she graduates from Pueblo County in 2025, Malone aspires to attend Spelman College — a historically Black college for women located in Atlanta, Georgia, that is the alma mater of her mother, Cheryl Anderson. Spellman College is the top-ranked HBCU in a 2024 U.S News report.
In her career aspirations, Malone looks to use her love of science and technology to help others. She told the Chieftain that she is exploring different possibilities, including urban planning and architecture. Malone also said she credits former Pueblo Food Project coordinator Monique Marez and the members of her family with helping her succeed.
"I'm just thankful for them believing in me and really investing time and money into me," she said. "They have been a big force in my life to show me what I am capable of and what I can do."
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Pueblo Chieftain reporter James Bartolo can be reached at JBartolo@gannett.com. Support local news, subscribe to The Pueblo Chieftain at subscribe.chieftain.com
This article originally appeared on The Pueblo Chieftain: Pueblo student selected to Yale University's 'Global Scholar' program
