Brayan Aviles (12, HSU) was surprised with the Benjamin Templeton Scholars Scholarship from Hanover College that will cover his full tuition for four years on Thursday, Feb. 1. Aviles is one of 10 people to receive this scholarship.

Representatives from Hanover, the Manual administration, Aviles’ family and friends gathered to surprise Brayan his during second block.

“[Brayan] is an ideal candidate for this scholarship. He has a huge resume and it’s filled with learning about other cultures, learning about other languages and helping people,” senior director of admissions Jane Stormer said.

The Benjamin Templeton Scholars Scholarship is named after the first African American student at Hanover and went on to serve as pastor of the Second African Presbyterian Church.

The scholarship honors “exceptional students who have participated or led programs that promote diversity, human rights and social justice for race, gender, religion, sexual orientation and gender identity or national origin,” according to the college’s website.

“I was not expecting this at all until I came [to the library] and saw the big panther,” Aviles said. “I saw my mom and she started crying then I started crying and it was just a water fest.”

Aviles plans to major in international affairs with Spanish and minor in international business with French or Chinese while at Hanover.