Genius Graduates Get Gigantic Grant
Four Miami Dade College students were awarded the prestigious Jack Kent Cooke Foundation Undergraduate Transfer Scholarship at their graduation ceremonies on May 2.
The winners: Pierre Carrion Garcia, Eleana Parajon, Juan Valdes and Brittany Robbins, will receive up to $40,000 per year to finish their bachelor’s degrees. The funds cover tuition, books, fees and living expenses.
Ninety recipients were selected nationwide this year. Students from 540 community colleges, 50 states, one U.S. territory, and the District of Columbia were up for the scholarship. Winners were selected based on high academic ability and achievements, persistence, leadership and financial need. The scholarships provide funding to community college students with financial need who plan to complete their bachelor’s degree at some of the nation’s top four-year colleges and universities.
“I was so shocked, I just kept on shaking and I couldn’t believe it, this was the one scholarship that I really really wanted,” said Robbins, a Kendall Campus Honors College student, who studied psychology. “My time at Miami Dade, I have met so many amazing faculty members that have just been my mentors and they have helped me through all of the transferring process just with everything, personal problems and academic problems and they’ve been amazing.”
At MDC, Robbins coordinated various events to raise awareness and support regarding eating disorders and domestic violence. She plans to pursue a doctorate in clinical psychology and will be attending the University of Michigan in the fall.
Carrion Garcia, was born in Ecuador and attended the Hialeah Campus and MDC’s Honors College Dual Language Program at the InterAmerican Campus. He completed coursework in accounting and graduated with a 4.0 GPA. He worked nearly full-time to assist his brother to support their mother. The scholarship will help him continue his education at New York University in the fall. He plans to continue working toward a master’s in business administration.
Parajon, a North Campus biology major, cried when she heard she was going to be receiving the scholarship at the graduation ceremony.
“I didn’t know anything and it was surreal, and my heart was dropping,” Parajon said. “I was very excited to move on and hopefully go to Johns Hopkins, but I am still waiting to hear back from schools.”
With a shocked and excited look on his face, Juan Valdes, an Honors College history major at Wolfson Campus, was called up to the stage after being introduced to the crowd.
“I was surprised, I didn’t think that I got it,” Valdes said. “I’m still waiting to hear back from Yale but University of Miami gave me [the] most tuition.”
