Scholarship Set Up By Baseball Umpires Offers Adopted Teen Life-Changing Opportunity
(CBS4) - November is National Adoption Month, and a Colorado teen adopted later in life is now on the path to success thanks to a scholarship. It's his dedication to our community, even though he's from another country, that landed Vitalik Walle the life-changing opportunity.
"When I first came to the United States, I didn't know any English, so it was a big change," Vitalik Walle told CBS4's Andrea Flores.
Walle has come a long way since his days as an orphan in Ukraine.
"I lost my parents when I was little, so I got to the orphanage when I was about 2 or 3 years old," he said.
He lived in an orphanage for about 10 years before he was adopted by a Colorado family at 15 years old. He finished high school and earned his Eagle Scout award. He's now a freshman at Colorado Christian University thanks to a scholarship from UMPS CARE Charities, the official charity of Major League Baseball umpires.
"We work with the family; we work with the school, in this case, CCU, and we work with the professors and counselors," said UMPS CARE board member Paul Emmel. Emmel is also an MLB umpire.
"We want to make sure that this child graduates from college, not just give them money to go to college," Emmel said.
The organization awards a $40,000 scholarship for children adopted after the age of 13. Out of 20 applicants, Emmel says Vitalik stood out above the rest.
"When we interviewed him he told us that at Cherry Hills Community Church he does Bible study for young children. After the STEM School tragedy, he had reached out and help counsel his peers, and in his application, he stated he volunteered at a nursing home," said Emmel.
With his future in front of him, Vitalik wants nothing more than to serve the Colorado community as a police officer.
"He's not from our country, he's not from our community, and our community has seen the dark clouds of evil the last 20 years, and here's a child that wants to be a first responder, and wants to live in our community, and wants to defend our community," Emmel said. "From a child who's not from here, that's an amazing human quality."
Once Vitalik is a senior, UMPS CARE will set him up with people in law enforcement to help him transition from college into the workforce.
"It's not as scary as if I would have gone by myself and tried to do everything on my own, and I have so much support," Walle says. "As much as it's scary, I have a lot of support to help me go through it so I'm not alone."
LINK: umpscare.com
