THE MORNING CALL | JUN 14, 2021 AT 7:30 AM
Editor’s note: This is one in a series of profiles of 2021 Lehigh Valley high school graduates.
When she was 13, Giselle Ponce got a job at a fruit and vegetable stand in Allentown, making $6 an hour.
She’d work long hours on weekends and after school on Fridays, helping set up the stand, bagging orders and restocking, regardless of whether it was hot or raining.
“It was difficult,” she said. “But I knew I needed a way to afford to go to college.”
Now Ponce, who graduated Thursday from Liberty High School, is poised to go to Moravian College, the next step in achieving her dream to become a pediatrician. But money will be less of a concern; she is one of two Bethlehem Area students to win a Superintendent’s Scholarship to the school.
Since 2016, Moravian College has awarded two Bethlehem Area students full scholarships, minus room and board. Students must submit an essay in their application, and the winners are chosen by Superintendent Joseph Roy. Students are typically the first in their family to attend college. The other winner this year was Freedom High School student Jakelyn Valenzuela.
To read the entire article on the Morning Call website, please visit She was always the voice for her immigrant family. She’s taking a step toward being a voice for children as a pediatrician by going to college.