Two over-achieving high school graduates were rewarded for their hard work Thursday with scholarships to the University of the Virgin Islands from the St. Croix Rotary Club.
Silkia Carmona, a 2014 graduate from St. Croix Educational Complex, and Cody Cook, who just graduated from AZ Academy, were each presented $1,200 Stanley Farrelly scholarships by Rotary President Sandra Phaire at a lunch with Rotarians and the students’ parents.
The annual scholarship is awarded to college bound students who plan to study criminal justice, and Carmona and Cook are taking different paths to that end.
Carmona, who graduated sixth out of 264 students, said she will be working out a lot this summer because she joined the Army National Guard and faces 10 weeks of basic training and 19 more weeks of advanced individual training. Then she will return to St. Croix, attend UVI and study criminal justice.
“For now, I know I want to go to school and study what I want and I know the military will give me the training and strength I need,” she said. 
Carmona, the second in a family of seven siblings, speaks publicly with ease and confidence and talked to the group about striving to reach goals.
She has been encouraged by her military recruiter to apply for West Point and said she will consider it. Currently she plans to look into service with the Federal Bureau of Investigation after college.
“I just want to build a better world for myself and others,” she said.
Carmona has a wide variety of outside interests. She served as class vice president last year and was a member of the Complex band color guard. She is a 4H ambassador and competed in track and field events throughout high school. She participated in moot court and volunteered for years at the St. Croix Animal Welfare Center where her father works.
Cook, who completed 11th and 12th grade at the same time, said he may follow his father’s footsteps – law enforcement – but will also explore forensic science. He said his path is not set in stone but he hopes to participate in UVI’s student exchange program and study in the U.S. for a year. It’s not studying or learning that Cook likes, he said, as much as what he can achieve by studying.
“I believe in following my own heart,” Cook said. “My dad told me, ‘If you do what you love, you will never work a day in your life.’”
With a 3.6 grade point average, while attending twice as many classes as a typical student, it is not surprising he has a four-year scholarship to UVI.
Cook’s extracurricular activities include sailing, surfing and playing music. He has worked in a sound studio and currently plays bass for Dick’s Garage and other bands. For the last two summers, he taught music.
He attended elementary and junior high in Pennsylvania and moved to St. Croix three years ago with his mother and father. He is an only child. The family decided together to come to the island after visiting friends here.
The scholarship was named for Stanley Farrelly, an active Rotarian who served as a U.S. Marshall, the St. Croix island administrator, executive director of the V.I. Port Authority, the V.I. Commerce Department commissioner and was a member of the Knights of Columbus. (The Commerce Department is now the Department of Tourism.) Farrelly died in 2003 and the scholarship is to honor his love and commitment to his home, the community and his profession.
