William Padua is Paying it Forward Ahead of Schedule

Poverty might have ended William Padua’s academic dreams before they began. “We had countless nights where we had no food to eat,” Padua recalls of his childhood. As the child of a Puerto Rican mother who moved to the mainland with her three children, Padua’s childhood included stays at shelters and lack of sufficient food. Despite this adversity as a child, Padua is the first person in his family to attend college. He is currently attending Florida International University where he is pursuing a Bachelor of Science in biology.

A member of the National Honor Society, Padua’s achievements in high school go beyond his GPA. In addition to his long list of academic accolades, Padua was also a dedicated athlete, volunteer, and mentor. He was captain of his school’s baseball team. Padua volunteered for the Ending Community Homeless Coalition (E.C.H.O.) providing groceries for families in need. As a mentor, Padua helped young children at Frost Elementary School. Padua speaks of his community engagement, “[Community involvement] helped me give back to those in need…I was in the same position as an adolescent.”

“Rent-to-Own has laid the stepping stones for my family’s success,” Padua says, citing his mother’s rise from a floor salesperson at Rent King to a manager at Happy’s Home Center. Padua’s father also has a career with the RTO-industry, starting as a delivery driver making minimum wage and living paycheck to paycheck to his current position as a co-owner and district manager for Great Rooms. Padua is straight forward about the importance of the RTO-industry to his life, “To this very day the rent-to-own industry still has tremendous impact on my family’s stability and financial well being.”

Padua is a member of the 2018 cohort receiving funding from the APRO Education Foundation’s Scholarship Fund. He is among a cohort of 47 students given over $110,000 worth from APRO and state rental dealer associations in Florida, Kansas, Missouri, and Tennessee. The APRO Education Foundation Scholarship Fund’s mission of helping futures leaders take ownership of their dreams is only possible thanks to the generosity of our donors. Thank you for your continued support, and we hope you will take a moment to support the next group of emerging leaders from our RTO-family by donating today.