Following his graduation from Sedona Red Rock High School this spring, Francisco Bekele will be trading in the red rocks of Sedona for the Big Red of Upstate New York.
Bekele, a senior at SRRHS, was accepted into the Ivy League’s Cornell University in Ithaca, New York.
Making matters even better for Bekele is that he received a full academic scholarship for the four-year period.
“I just applied through Cornell and I was eligible for it [the scholarship] through a mix of academics and financial need,” Bekele said. “It was a really cool experience. Applying to somewhere like Cornell you don’t think you’re going to get in. But reading that letter and seeing that everything is covered for, it’s really a dream come true. That was the school I was aiming for in the whole application process.”
In his time with the Scorpions, Bekele has been a student-athlete. He played football as a junior. As a freshman, sophomore and senior, he ran cross country for SRRHS. He was a part of this year’s boys cross country team that narrowly missed qualifying for state.
Bekele has also been a part of the Scorpions track team. He’s planning on remaining a student-athlete at Cornell, running the 60, 100 and 200 meter sprints for the Big Red.
While being a student athlete will be a familiar experience for Bekele, much of the remaining experience at Cornell and in Ithaca will be brand new for him.
“I’ve never been to New York or that part of the country,” he said. “It will be a lot different from Arizona living there. I couldn’t go on a tour or anything because of COVID.”
Academically, Bekele plans on majoring in hospitality. Cornell was the lone Ivy League school that had that focus, which is why he chose to apply there.
While he has a few ideas for what he might want to do after he completes his undergraduate work, Bekele knows that he wants to remain in the industry long term — just in a different capacity than what he’s presently used to.
“After college I may want to go to grad school to pursue a law degree,” he said. “Job-wise I want to continue working in the restaurant industry more on the corporate side.”
“After I gain experience in that I want to open my own restaurants,” Bekele added. “I’m really open to any kind. I’ve worked in fine dining a lot. That industry, learning about the cuisines and wine has always been interesting. I’d prefer fine dining, but who knows?”
While Bekele is ultimately the person who earned the scholarship, he knows that it wasn’t a solo experience.
He expressed gratitude to the people who have helped him get to the point where he could earn a full academic scholarship to one of the top schools in the country.
“I definitely want to thank my parents — Shelly and Fassil,” he said. “And my friends. I honestly probably couldn’t have gotten to this point had it not been for their support throughout high school and even back in elementary and middle school.”
