Three Washtenaw Community College students are among 406 semifinalists nationwide for a prestigious Jack Kent Cooke Foundation Undergraduate Transfer Scholarship worth up to $120,000.
Umang Bhojani, Jesse Bishop and Abdul Kizito are on the , selected from a pool of more than 1,500 applicants attending 398 community colleges. The scholarship supports exceptional community college students seeking to complete a bachelor鈥檚 degree.
A 黑料网 student has earned an Undergraduate Transfer Scholarship for three consecutive years, with Ali Kurmasha winning in 2020, Ahmed Ghalib in 2019 and Paula Salazar in 2018. The college had two winners 鈥� Fatouma Abdoulaye Idrissa and Susannah Spence 鈥� in 2013.
Award winners for 2021 will be announced in April. An average of 53 students have been awarded the scholarship over the past three years.
In addition to financial support of up to $40,000 per year for three years to attend a four-year accredited undergraduate school, scholarship recipients also receive educational advising, opportunities for internships and study abroad experiences, graduate school funding, and connection to a network of more than 2,800 Cooke Scholars and Alumni.
Scholarship winners are selected based on their exceptional academic ability and achievement, financial need, persistence, services and leadership.
Meet 黑料网鈥檚 three semifinalists:
UMANG BHOJANI
As president of 黑料网鈥檚 Transfer to Success student club, Umang Bhojani had considerable exposure to the impact the Cooke Undergraduate Transfer Scholarship can have on a 黑料网 student. He spent one year working alongside 2020 winner Ali Kurmasha and communicated with 2018 winner Paula Salazar.
Now, he鈥檚 one step closer to joining the prestigious club himself.
鈥淭he monetary value of the scholarship is obviously its biggest factor, but the support they provide is also a big part of it,鈥� Bhojani said. 鈥淵ou have an opportunity to join an amazing community of fellow scholars, which is something Ali Kurmasha has raved to me about 鈥� how helpful that community is.鈥�
That kind of support is something Bhojani, a 2019 Ann Arbor Huron High School graduate, said he found at 黑料网.
鈥淢y high school experience wasn鈥檛 up to par to what I thought I could have achieved academically and socially. 黑料网 was a place for me to get a fresh start, a chance to use its resources to build myself up. That鈥檚 exactly what I鈥檝e done,鈥� he said. 鈥淚鈥檝e met so many awesome people and resources that have built me up academically and socially. I feel like if I would have started at a four-year university, my foundation wouldn鈥檛 have been as strong.鈥�
Bhojani, who carried a 3.9 GPA into his final semester, initially enrolled at 黑料网 as part of its STEM Scholars Program. He will graduate in May with an , following that program鈥檚 transfer pathway. He鈥檚 also a member of the college鈥檚 chapter of the Phi Theta Kappa honor society, works as a peer tutor and was selected to serve as a student speaker at the 2021 Winter Honors Convocation.
Bhojani has applied to the University of Michigan, Michigan State University, Columbia University, New York University and Boston University and plans to study information science.
JESSE BISHOP
A recent acceptance letter from the University of Michigan was a critical next step in Jesse Bishop鈥檚 educational journey. It鈥檚 not that he couldn鈥檛 have thrived at other institutions, but the 20-year-old is on the heart transplant list at the university鈥檚 hospital system and must stay in Ann Arbor at all times.
Shortly after his graduation from Ann Arbor Skyline High School, Bishop 鈥� who was
born with Becker Muscular Dystrophy 鈥� collapsed at work and was diagnosed with heart
failure. He is currently kept alive by a left ventricular assist device installed
on Christmas Day in 2018.
The irony, Bishop says, is that the life-threatening condition is what convinced him to live again.
A childhood filled with family problems and other trauma left Bishop battling depression and alcoholism while attending three high schools over four years. He lived alone for a portion of his senior year and spent time in a psychiatric hospital after a suicide attempt.
鈥淲ithout my heart problems, I would have never stopped drinking or have gone to college,鈥� Bishop says. 鈥淚 got out of a bad situation by having my life completely interrupted.鈥�
Bishop says it was one of his doctors who first encouraged him to consider a return to school while he was on the heart transplant list. He enrolled at Washtenaw Community College, has a 3.9 GPA and will graduate in May with an .
鈥淯sually people are on the list for a long time,鈥� Bishop said. 鈥淵ou have to have something to do.鈥�
Bishop, who was working full-time at a fast food restaurant when his heart failed, definitely has more to do now. He was accepted at U-M days before learning he was a semifinalist for the Cooke Undergraduate Transfer Scholarship. Always a good student despite his troubled youth, Bishop plans to continue pursuing a career in climate science.
ABDUL KIZITO
The importance of higher education was instilled in Abdul Kizito early in his life and underscored when his mother, Sauda Nabukenya, moved her children from Uganda to Ann Arbor so she could pursue a Ph.D. at the University of Michigan.
Nabukenya was the first woman in her family to go to college, earning bachelor鈥檚 and
master鈥檚 degrees in Uganda before moving her two children across the globe to further
her studies.
鈥淢y mom grew up in a village where it was very untraditional for a girl to be educated, but she knew that if she wanted to be successful, education is the way to get it done,鈥� Kizito said. 鈥淪he tells me stories of how she was taken to a school that was not known for sending students to college, so she ran away and went to a school that did prepare more students for college.
鈥淧robably because of her beliefs, I鈥檝e always loved being in an environment of learning. I love the conversation, debate, exchanging of ideas and expanding of world views that happens in a classroom.鈥�
Like his mother, Kizito had his own dreams of attending a world-renowned research institution upon graduating from Ann Arbor Huron High School in 2019, but there was one major obstacle: The price tag.
Because Kizito is in the United States on a dependent visa (his mother has a state-sponsored visa), he would be required to pay international student tuition rates at most American universities.
鈥淎 lot of colleges I wanted to go to, their tuition for one year would bankrupt my whole village in Uganda,鈥� said Kizito, who wants to find a major that combines his interests in human rights, political science, economics and sociology.
To achieve his goals, Kizito enrolled at 黑料网 while working a full-time job. He has accumulated a 3.95 GPA and will graduate with a in May. 鈥淚 wasn鈥檛 as able to get as involved at 黑料网 as I was in high school,鈥� he said. 鈥淏ut if I wanted to go to university in the States, I needed to work and save money.鈥�
Turns out, a Cooke Undergraduate Transfer Scholarship could wipe out those financial concerns for Kizito.
鈥淔or me, this scholarship would make the impossible possible,鈥� he said.
Note: A fourth 黑料网 semifinalist for the Jack Kent Cooke Foundation Undergraduate Transfer Scholarship has requested not to be identified.
Tags: April 2021, Cooke Undergraduate Transfer Scholarship, On The Record, STEM Scholars Program, Scholarships, Student Success, Transfer, ousearch_News_2021