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To help in his endeavors, Wilkins is one of five Sterling Heights students who received a $1,000 scholarship from The Chrysler Scholarship Fund for Technical Training. Other recipients for the 2008-09 scholarship are Stevenson High School senior Jacob Kotwica, De La Salle Collegiate High School senior John Kulczycki, Henry Ford II High School senior Pacari Woodland, and 2007 Stevenson High School graduate and current University of Michigan freshman Chelsea Gerlach.

“It is important to give back to the youth of our community,” The Chrysler Foundation Vice President Brian Glowiak said. “Helping these students achieve their educational goals will benefit them, as well as the surrounding community and workforce in the future.”

The scholarship fund was created in 1999 through a partnership with The Chrysler Foundation and the Sterling Heights Community Foundation, and is designed for high school seniors and graduates younger than 21 years old, living in Sterling Heights and pursuing careers in technical or vocational fields.

Sterling Heights Mayor Richard Notte congratulated the scholarship recipients, thanking them for their hard work and for going a “step above” the rest.

“We appreciate all your extra work and effort,” Notte said. “We know your parents and families are proud of you. We’re just as proud.”

Wilkins hopes to attend Western Michigan University this fall to pursue a degree in computer engineering so he can make a career out of helping people with their computer problems. “I want to be an IT (information technology) guy,” Wilkins said. “It’s a nice feeling, helping people with their computers when they don’t have the knowledge. It gives me a good feeling to know I conquered technology.”

In addition, Wilkins also hopes to join marching band at Western. He plays the piccolo and hopes to minor in music.

His classmate, Kotwica, will attend Northwestern University this fall to start taking classes toward a degree in electrical engineering. Kotwica said he happened to bump into a representative from Northwestern at a college fair at school, but it took a while before giving in and calling the man.

Once he talked to the representative, Kotwica decided to further his learning about high-performance diesel at the university.

“He’s been going to drag races since he was 11 years old,” his mother, Tanya Kotwica, said of her son’s interest in diesel engines.

On the other end of the spectrum, scholarship recipient Woodland plans to attend Oakland University for pre-veterinary education.

“Ever since I was little, I always liked helping animals,” Woodland said. “It’s always in my heart.”

Woodland said he appreciates how beneficial the scholarship will be for his college plans because he didn’t receive very much money in financial aid.

“This will help a great deal,” Woodland said.