By Tom Momberg
Three Queensborough Community College students who are set to graduate Friday plan to continue on to complete their baccalaureate degrees in the fall after being awarded Jack Kent Cooke Foundation Undergraduate Transfer Scholarships.
Kyle Chin-How, a 20-year old honors student who maintained a 3.8 GPA, said he plans to attend the City College ofNew York to start studying philosophy and political science in the fall.
“I actually only heard about this scholarship through the transfer coordinator at Queensborough a week and a half before the due date, but lucky enough, my recommenders were able to turn letters over to me very quickly and I got it,” Chin-How said. “It’s actually quite humbling to be given the opportunity to graduate without any more debt. This is something not everyone is lucky enough to have.”
The Queens resident of Guyanese descent said he will try to get into law school after finishing up at City College. His ultimate goal is to run for elected office.
“I really got interested in politics when I came to QCC—to this unique, diverse microcosm of the world—which really resonated with my background,” Chin-How said. “My parents emigrated from South America, and I’ve witnessed firsthand so many immigration stories. So being here really galvanized my interest to some day create meaningful change on that front.”
Yueting Chen, who is finishing her first year in Stony Brook University’s genetics department, was the first ever Queensborough student to be awarded the Cooke scholarship when she got her associate degree last year. And this year, Chin-How is joining two others in taking a $40,000-a-year Cooke scholarship.
The other two QCC students getting aid from the Cooke Foundation are Daysi Proano, a science and forensics major, and Silvia Salamone, who was to graduate Friday with an associate degree in liberal arts and sciences. All three of the scholarship recipients were either a part of the Phi Theta Kappa International Honor Society or its academic teams.
Proano had a 3.85 GPA while at Queensborough, and plans to transfer to John Jay College in the fall, where she already had been taking some junior-level courses.
Salamone, a 4.0 GPA graduate from QCC this spring, is planning to use her transfer scholarship funds to attend the University of Connecticut in the fall, where she will continue her efforts in nanochemistry.
All three graduates were praised by Queensborough faculty not only for continuing their education on scholarship, but for generally embodying ideals of leadership, fellowship, service and academic excellence.
“It is an extraordinary accomplishment that three of the 90 national scholars selected came from Queensborough,” QCC President Dr. Diane Call said. “I am thrilled knowing that Queensborough continues to be recognized for its leadership in providing a high quality education for all of our students.”
Reach reporter Tom Momberg by e-mail at tmomb
