KELSEYVILLE, Calif. – This year’s recipient of the John Paul Clarke Memorial Scholarship presented by Worldwide Healing Hands is Kelseyville High School graduate Juliann Totorica.

The scholarship was established last year by Clarke’s family, John Clarke, Dr. Paula Dhanda and Jasmin Clarke, to honor John Paul Clarke’s memory.

It is awarded to a Kelseyville High senior each year to further his or her education either in college or a vocational school.

“The scholarship is a celebration of the human potential for altruism, empathy and compassion,” said Dhanda.

The individual’s kindness toward others is the deciding factor in the selection, she added.

Clarke’s sister, Jasmin, a Kelseyville High student and a Worldwide Healing Hands volunteer, played an instrumental role in the selection process.

“We congratulate Juliann and wish her the best in her collegiate ventures,” said Dr. Dhanda. “She is a very deserving young woman.”

Totorica said she plans to move to Southern California to attend classes at Saddleback Community College and work part-time at Disneyland.

After two years at Saddleback and time to consider possible majors, she says, she intends to enroll in a four-year college and apply for the Disney College internship.

“With the John Paul Memorial Scholarship, I am that much closer to realizing my dream, which has been many years in the making, and that much farther from needing to rely on student loans,” Totorica said. “This scholarship means the most to me of them all because of what it represents. It is such an honor, and it makes me feel like maybe I'm doing something right for my community.”

Totorica was involved in K-Corps, Rotary Interact and Future Farmers of America while in high school.

She also was a member of the California Scholarship Federation and held officer positions in the school’s Associated Student Body.

She is a fourth generation Kelseyville resident and attended Kelseyville schools from kindergarten on. Her mother and grandmother are Kelseyville High graduates, also.

Juliann is the daughter of Frank and Vicki Totorica of Kelseyville, and she has two siblings, Jake Hoberg and Jenna Hoberg.

“I definitely owe thanks to my parents for raising me the way they did; they have wonderful morals and have always taught me that it isn't our place to judge someone else because we never know what's going on in their lives,” said Totorica.

To learn more about Worldwide Healing Hands and the John Paul Clarke Memorial Scholarship, or to make a donation, visit the organization’s Web site at www.worldwidehealinghands.org or its Facebook page.