Aubrey Carpenter | The Republic | azcentral.com

The Arizona Lottery awarded one lucky medical student at the University of Arizona College of Medicine-Phoenix a $25,000 scholarship Thursday.

Dario Alvarez, a fourth-year student studying to be a pediatrician, was surprised with a room full of people, balloons, cheerleaders and most importantly a large check, when he walked through the classroom door for a “meeting.”

“It means everything to me, I’m very thankful. I’ve gone through a lot to get to this point,” Alvarez said. “I’ve had the opportunity to work with adolescent children who have similar backgrounds as me, who have a lot of dreams and hopes, and I get to continue being an example of someone, who despite our background and other obstacles, we can reach this point and be a doctor in the future.”

Alvarez spends much of his time helping underprivileged communities, volunteering at places like the Wesley Community Health Clinic which provides services to families in South Phoenix and the Student Health Outreach and Wellness Clinic which serves the Phoenix homeless community. He also volunteers with the Phoenix Children’s Hospital where he brings free medical care to homeless youth.

“Working in a very low-income community, there’s a lot of need. It motivated me even more to support the communities and to work with children so from these experiences I had a desire to become a pediatrician,” Alvarez said.

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Gregg Edgar, executive director of the Arizona Lottery, said scholarships such as Alvarez's are part of the group's push to do good in the community

"It was important to us to come in and try to draw some connection back to what the Lottery does in the community, and what better way than putting money into a student, a student who’s going to go on to do amazing things in pediatric care,” Edgar said.

Aubrey Carpenter/The Republic

Alvarez was born in Cuba and emigrated to Venezuela where he lived for 11 years until an economic crisis and political turmoil forced him and his family to move. He adapted to a new culture and language in Arizona where he graduated from Glendale High School and attended the University of Arizona as a biology major.

Alvarez said his passion for medicine surfaced at a young age when his third grade best friend was diagnosed with leukemia and traveled to Houston for a transplant. The transplant saved the friend's life.

Alvarez will continue pursuing his degree to become a pediatrician and hopes to move to a rural community where he can provide medical and social services to disadvantaged parents and children.

“I want to support the communities, learn about them and their needs, and help them where they need it most,” Alvarez said.

For anyone who’s hoping they can be next on the scholarship list, Edgar has this advice: “We will see what comes down the pipe ... We’ll see as this continues to grow. We’ve got a great partnership with the Board of Regents so ways that we can build on that partnership, we’re all in for it.”