Bittersweet Ceremony for Scholarship Recipients

Two recent graduates of Matawan Regional High School were awarded the Aberdeen Matawan Soccer Club Chris Michael Dhume Memorial Scholarship at a small ceremony on Strathmore fields Thursday evening.

Matthew D'Auria and Alexandra Rodriguez were the first recipients of the $1,000 scholarship, which is in honor of their classmate, Chris Dhume, who .

Dhume's mother, Val, was very involved in the creation of the scholarship and the selection of the recipients.

Along with the board of the Aberdeen Matawan Soccer Club (AMSC), she created a set of criteria to be used each year to select one male and one female student for the scholarship.

"They (AMSC) wanted to create a scholarship anyway and I'm glad it's in his honor. It's like a continuation of his happiness," Dhume said.

Dhume is very involved in the school, between working for the district and watching her daughter and two sons play soccer throughout the years. She knew both D'Auria and Rodriguez through their years playing soccer and their friendships with her son Chris.

"I'm sad for what it is, but I am happy that it's Matt and Alex," she said. "I Know if Chris was alive he would have chosen them."

D'Auria and Rodriguez both described the ceremony as bittersweet.

"I'm happy that I got the scholarship, but sad realizing what it's for," D'Auria said. "It's great of them to think of me and an honor to share it with Alex."

"Chris was such an awesome kid," Rodriguez said. "I'm thankful for this scholarship."

D'Auria will attend Virginia Tech to study Engineering. D'Auria was co-captian of the boys' varsity soccer team with Dhume, under Coach Dave Deegan.

Rodriguez will attend Townson University in Maryland where she will study Elementary Education and Deaf Studies. While at MRHS, Rodriguez was the co-captiain of the girls' varsity soccer team under Coach Ken McCabe.