Three CUNY community college students who overcame personal and academic hardships have been selected as recipients of the highly selective Jack Kent Cooke Foundation Undergraduate Transfer Scholarship, honoring the nation’s top community college students. The grant was awarded to a pair of students from the Borough of Manhattan Community College, and one from LaGuardia Community College. The award provides up to $40,000 per year to help recipients complete their bachelor’s degree.
CUNY community college students also figured prominently in the Kaplan Educational Foundation’s most recent awards, with 13 students earning the recognition —accounting for this year’s entire cohort of the Kaplan Leadership Program (KLP). The program helps high-performing, low-income community college students from the New York City metropolitan area complete their associate degree and successfully transfer and finish their four-year degree. The scholarship funds up to $3,000 per year toward their associate degree; living stipends up to $500 a month while they are enrolled; and funding for transportation and need-based expenses through the completion of their bachelor’s.
Fourteen of the 16 award recipients were born outside the United States.
“CUNY is proud of its status as a gateway to academic and career success for students of every background, including international students and immigrants who come to this country in search of educational and economic opportunities,” said Chancellor Félix V. Matos Rodríguez. “These students’ drive to succeed is a perfect fit for CUNY, which offers a network of support services to help every student flourish in the classroom. I congratulate the recipients on their success and look forward to seeing what these amazing and motivated scholars will achieve in the future.”
Cooke Transfer Scholarship Winners
The three CUNY students chosen for the Cooke Undergraduate Transfer Scholarship were part of a group of 72 winners selected from a pool of over 1,300 students from 370 community colleges across the country. Each Cooke Scholar has access to generous financial support for two to three years, college planning support, ongoing advising and the opportunity to connect with the thriving community of fellow scholars. Here’s a look at the students’ CUNY success stories:
Abdoul-hanane Gbadamassi – Standing for International Students
When BMCC’s Abdoul-hanane Gbadamassi was rejected from all 14 of the colleges he applied to last year, the 21-year-old from the West African nation of Togo didn’t get discouraged. Instead, the 2020 grad redoubled his efforts, maintained contact with his advisers and professors and reapplied to the same schools that spurned him. He also submitted another application letter to the Cooke scholarship, for which he was a semifinalist last year. Gbadamassi, who has been working as a security guard in a Manhattan discount store, received the good news after he wrapped up his shift on May 6. “Sometimes it takes a whole community to bring someone success,” said Gbadamassi, who hopes to study computer science and is still awaiting college acceptance decisions. “Now, my goal is to represent people who are like me and to be the voice of international students and to inspire others.”
Zilla Tofte – Failure Is Not an Option
LaGuardia’s Zilla Tofte described winning the Cooke scholarship as “life-changing.” For someone who has endured the trauma of losing both her parents at an early age, that’s a significant statement. Tofte wants to build on her success at CUNY, and hopes to one day empower developing nations to combat environmental issues like climate change, which she saw firsthand in her hometown of Heidelberg, South Africa. She moved to New York in 2018, looking for a fresh start, and discovered her passion for engineering at LaGuardia. “With the support of LaGuardia and the Jack Kent Cooke Foundation, I will be able to attend the school of my dreams,” said Tofte, who has been accepted to the NYU Tandon School of Engineering and plans to make her college decision soon.
Altrim Mamuti – Giving Back and Staying Put
Since arriving from his hometown of Tetovo, North Macedonia, in 2019, BMCC’s Altrim Mamuti has seen other international students expand their knowledge at CUNY to then return to their home countries. But Mamuti, a biotech major scheduled to graduate in the fall, intends to use the Cooke scholarship to further his goal of one day launching a research start-up in the U.S. that addresses issues related to environmental sustainability. As a first-generation college student who initially struggled to adapt to the cultural, religious and educational crosswinds of a new country, Mamuti credits the faculty and staff at BMCC for providing him with a roadmap to succeed. “I want to give back to the community here after all of the support I got,” said Mamuti, who is mulling an offer from Columbia University’s School of General Studies for the fall.
Kaplan Leadership Scholars
CUNY’s Kaplan Leadership Scholars have also traveled far and wide to pursue their educational dreams. Here’s a look of where they began and what they hope to achieve in their careers:
Borough of Manhattan Community College
Samuel Boadu, originally from Ghana, aspires to become a professor of chemical engineering.
Chanthea Quinland seeks to create STEM after-school programs in Antigua, her place of birth, to encourage young girls to pursue non-traditional career paths.
Sulay Restrepo, a 2020 grad, grew up in Colombia and wants to provide small business training and seed funding to help drive the growth of Latina-owned businesses.
Johann Smith, a 2020 grad and former soccer player who played professionally in Canada’s Premier League, hopes to open an athletic facility that promotes a holistic approach to wellness.
Jon Williams, a 2020 grad, aspires to serve as a youth mentor in his hometown of Houston and to work toward achieving racial justice for wrongly convicted people of color.
Bronx Community College
Ana Abreu, born in the Dominican Republic, has ambitions of becoming a mathematics college professor.
Suleidy De La Cruz was born in the Dominican Republic and seeks to improve policies that would impact the quality of education for low-income students.
Zouberou Sayibou was born in Togo and aspires to use machine learning and big data to develop affordable diagnostic tools to address health disparities in developing countries.
Hostos Community College
Rosina Asiamah, a 2020 graduate, is focused on returning home to open health clinics in Ghana.
Boinzemwende Jarmila Roxane Ouango was born in Burkina Faso and aims to develop sustainable, energy-efficient computer hardware devices.
Oumou Traore, originally from Mali, plans to become an environmental civil engineer and develop green energy strategies for developing African nations.
Kingsborough Community College
Victoria Flores-Almazan hopes to establish a low-cost medical clinic for underserved communities, inspired by the health challenges she has overcome as a person born prematurely in Mexico.
LaGuardia Community College
Ruth Carranza, a native of Ecuador who graduated in 2020, aspires to develop effective and inclusive branding for Latinx-owned media businesses.
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