Sedona Red Rock High School senior Lauren Pfaff has been selected as one of the 36 finalists for the Flinn Scholarship, which includes tuition to an in-state public university, meals, housing and an opportunity to study abroad. The scholarship is valued at $130,000. Twenty students from across Arizona will receive full scholarships through the program, while finalists will receive lesser amounts of financial aid. Over 1,000 high school seniors received nominations for the scholarship.

“Congratulations to Pfaff on being named a finalist for the Flinn Scholarship,” SRRHS Principal Heather Isom wrote in a school update on Monday, Jan. 29. “This prestigious recognition is a testament to Pfaff’s exceptional academic achievements, leadership qualities and commitment to making a positive impact.

“The Flinn Scholarship is a commendable acknowledgment of her dedication to excellence, and it reflects not only her hard work but also her passion for contributing to the community and pursuing academic excellence. “Pfaff’s achievement as a finalist is well-deserved and it undoubtedly marks the beginning of even more remarkable accomplishments in her future endeavors. Best wishes to Pfaff as she continues to shine and inspire others with her outstanding achievements.”

Pfaff and Gaven Trusty of Bradshaw Mountain High School in Dewey-Humboldt are the two remaining finalists from Yavapai County.

If Pfaff is selected, she would be the first Flinn Scholar from SRRHS. She has also made it further in the selection process than any other SRRHS student; Isabella Constante was a semifinalist in 2021.

Pffaf recently turned 18 and plans to enroll at the University of Arizona in the fall, probably to pursue her interest in agriculture. She said she is considering starting a farm or working at the extension office in order to help farmers and see if her interest in gardening could translate into a career.

“I grow mainly vegetables,” Pfaff said. “I have a couple of fruit trees, but they’re relatively new. So they don’t have any fruit on them yet. I like to grow things sustainably, and I don’t have that big of a garden. I just like to get every little carrot or tomato I can and it’s a lot of fun to experiment. It is also a chance to decompress after a long day. Something about dirt [under] my nails makes me calm.”

“Sometimes the produce … that’s flown in from far away isn’t that good, because they harvest the tomatoes and they’re tiny and green and not when they’re ready to be consumed,” Pfaff said. “If you get local food, people are going to eat more nutritiously because the food tastes better. The food has more nutrition in it, and it’s better for the environment, which is another one of my interests.

“For instance, I work at the elementary school I help with after school program. Those kids for the most part are in the ‘hate vegetables’ crowd. But stuff from the school garden, they’ll at the very least try it, which, I think, is a hurdle for kids and adults, because if your experience with broccoli is not fresh, freezer-burnt, you’re not [going to] like broccoli. But if you get fresh, well-grown [produce], you’re going to eat better.”

Pfaff also volunteers with the Special Olympics.

“I’ve helped them fundraise,” Pfaff said. “I’m autistic, I understand what it’s like to have a bad day or to feel down or that people don’t get you. It’s important for those kids to have friends and people around them, who support them and will continue to support them. It’s important that they have that community, because in some schools, they end up separate. “One thing they do well here is [special needs students] go to lunch with everyone else.”

What Pfaff said she wished others would understand about autism is that it affects different people differently.

“One of the key things that some people have an issue with is picturing, [while] they know someone who’s severely affected and they necessarily understand that somewhere else on the [autism] spectrum, closer, say, where I am, is still on the spectrum,” Pfaff said. “These people all have these amazing strengths. We need to realize that we’re all different and different kids with different issues are going to have different struggles.

“I have autism, someone else might have some other issue. We all have our problems, and we just need to realize that we’re all different and autism is just a way that people are different.”

In addition, Pfaff is part of SRRHS’s early college cohort, which will allow her to complete the graduation requirements for her high school diploma and associate’s degree simultaneously. She will also be graduating from Yavapai College this spring.

“I want to thank all the people who’ve helped me get here,” Pfaff said. “I want to thank my parents, because they’ve always been there for me … They’ve helped me see past the differences to get to the fact that I have all these ambitions.

“They’ve helped me to set expectations high, and then exceed those expectations … I want to thank Tiffany Wilson, the special education teacher, she’s been really helpful. She’s been here throughout my high school journey and junior high. It’s important that she was there, and she helped me work out disability-related [issues] as they arose. It helped to have an advocate at the school … And I want to thank the Flinn Foundation because they are the ones who have created this opportunity.”

The scholarship selection committee will be interviewing the finalists in March and will announce the Flinn Scholars Class of 2024 in April.