Before she graduated from Osborne High in June, Lesly Vasquez was anxious about how she was going to pay for college. Family responsibilities, a job and school assignments left little time to apply for scholarships. But the 18-year-old, who moved to Marietta from El Salvador three years ago, knew she’d need help to get the education she needed to reach her dream of being a teacher.
Fate and a philanthropic Osborne alum intervened.
“My counselor told me about this new scholarship, and I didn’t know much about it,” said Vasquez. “I also didn’t know it was the first one like it. But it was the only one I applied to.”
During a surprise presentation before graduation, Vasquez learned she was the recipient of a $52,000 scholarship that opened the door to her attending Chattahoochee Tech this year. The opportunity came from Wayne Langley and his wife, Shirley, who didn’t know anything about Vasquez before meeting her at that presentation. What Langley did know was he wanted to make a difference in a student’s life.
“I graduated from Osborne in 1969, but after that, I didn’t get much education,” said the Smyrna resident, 71. “I came from a fairly poor family of four kids, and we didn’t have a lot of money.”
Langley attended what was then Kennesaw Junior College for a year before his number came up in the Vietnam draft. He enlisted with the reserve Marine Corps so he could stay in school, but after six months of boot camp and with a 5.5-year commitment in front of him, he got a job with CWC, a downtown office supplies and furniture company, and went to night school at Georgia State.
“It’s hard to go back to college when you’ve been in the Marines for six months and have no money,” said Langley. “And once I started making money, I never finished.”
Langley became one of the company’s top salespeople and ended a 30-year career as the president before retiring 25 years ago. Along the way, his two children earned advanced degrees, and he got the urge to help another student as well.
“It was something I always wanted to do,” he said. “I’ve been a firm believer in giving, particularly to people who did not have a lot of opportunity. I probably could’ve stayed in college if money hadn’t been an issue, and I liked the idea of seeing other people get that opportunity.”
Langley homed in on Osborne since it was his alma mater. He let the school counselors establish the application and selection process that narrowed the candidates to five. In the end, all he knew about the finalist was she was a girl with a solid academic and attendance record.
“We wanted it to be a surprise for us and them,” said Langley. “After we met, she had us all in tears. We were just happy to find somebody and make a difference in their lives.”
Vasquez plans to take her core classes at Chattahoochee and then transfer to major university to finish her degree. “From there, I want to teach third grade math,” she said.
Information about Osborne High is online at cobbk12.org/Osborne.
SEND US YOUR STORIES. Each week we look at programs, projects and successful endeavors at area schools, from pre-K to grad school. To suggest a story, contact H.M. Cauley at hm_cauley@yahoo.com or 770-744-3042.
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