Marvin Lopez developed a taste for fine dining with their parents, so he chose to deepen the culinary arts in high school and today is the winner of a lucrative college scholarship to fulfill his dream of becoming a chef.

Five students from as many schools in the Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD), Lopez received the largest grant of $ 92,136, by the nonprofit organization run through the Culinary Arts (C-CAP) to study degree in food preparation in the College of Culinary Arts Johnson & Wales University in Providence, Rhode Island, one of the best in the U.S.

"I'm glad to have won the largest grant C-CAP, is something I never imagined that in all previous competitions had only won certificates and medals," he told Efe Lopez, recently graduated high school in Santee.

"That money I'm going to take, because it is to cover tuition for all undergraduates who begin in September for living expenses and fill out applications for three scholarship programs also hope to win to dedicate one to study," he said.

Born July 18, 1992 in Culver City, California, Lopez is the oldest of three children of a Mexican father and Salvadoran mother who in the late eighties came to California in search of a better future.

"I chose to study the culinary arts-focused school because since childhood when my dad takes us for walks, we always eat at restaurants where the food is delicious," said Lopez who loves Salvadoran pupusas and Mexican tacos.

"In school I was motivated more because the chef Brent Boultinghouse taught us the secrets in the flavors of food from many regions of the world and encouraged us to participate in contests for food and compete for scholarships like the one I won with the C-CAP "he said.

According to figures from the California Department of Education (Ed-Data), Santee High School, located in downtown Los Angeles, is a 3475 study center students in which 92 percent are Latino, 7 percent African American and remaining 1 percent are of other ethnicities.

One of the predominant indicators of socioeconomic status of students is that 69 percent are enrolled in the food free or low cost, and that 43 percent of the population still learning to speak English.

"To succeed in the culinary arts world one must have passion," said Lopez.

Last Saturday, the young man prepared the dinner for the family at home in South Los Angeles for which she served with papaya salad with jicama and spinach that in 2009 won third place in the competition of racing organization Economics and Technology in Education (FHA-HERO).

And as a main dish, chicken breasts with salt and pepper fried in olive oil and then cooked in port wine with cherries.

Geronimo Lopez, 39, father of Marvin has a hairdressing business and Efe said he has always advised his son to take the opportunities offered by the country of his birth.

"If you stay at a McDonalds flipping burgers many years to come would win the money he has earned the scholarship," said the proud father.

Meanwhile, Patricia Scott, leader of the Culinary Arts program of the LAUSD, told Efe that the increase scholarship opportunities for students to have a steady job.

"And this will help the most outstanding graduate schools in deprived areas to improve their quality of life for themselves and their families," he concluded.