Pedro Santos is headed west.

He will study Exercise Science at the University of Southern California, where he also secured a spot on the baseball team.

Santos was valedictorian at the Urban Assembly School of Design and Construction, graduating with a 4.0 GPA.

“I get to expand my knowledge more about what I love to do and my passions, which is amazing,” said Santos, who grew up in Inwood.

What You Need To Know

  • $180,000 in scholarships have been distributed to graduating seniors at two Manhattan high schools

  • This year six students were awarded $10,000 each

  • The scholarships are awarded based on an essay competition where students outline ways to improve the city

He is one of six local high school students to receive $10,000 towards their college education through the Javits Juniors Scholarship Program from the Jacob Javits Center, the convention center on the West Side of Manhattan.

In its fifth year, the program has distributed $180,000 in scholarships to students chosen through an essay competition, where they were asked to outline their ideas to improve the city.

For Santos, addressing homelessness was a key issue.

Javits Center CEO Alan Steel says they award the scholarships as part of an effort to be good neighbors.

“We do it because we feel as if we are a very big building in the middle for the community and we want to be more than just a big building, we want to be something that’s active in the community and helps the community,” Steel said.

For Charmaine Cera of the Upper West Side, the scholarship will help her attend Babson College, where she will study Business Administration.

Cera finished second in her class at the High School of Fashion Industries and addressed funding inequities in the city’s public schools in her essay.

“It’s a blessing first and foremost, but it means that my first year of college is basically free,” Cera said.

Charmaine’s close friend and classmate Tahiyah Chowdhury of the Bronx was also a winner.

She will attend Smith College and study environmental science, writing her essay about ways to assist residents in food deserts in the city’s low income areas.

“Using community gardens, increasing the availability and access to community gardens in those areas to combat that issue,” Chowdhury said.

Many of the honorees are from immigrant families and some are first generation college students, the scholarship a big boost as they seek to achieve their dreams.

“It makes such a huge difference that students can go into college and know that they are going to have that financial support, it’s an amazing opportunity,” Meredith Matson said, principal at Urban Assembly School of Design and Construction, one of the two participating schools.