News release
College of the Canyons student Isabella Solorio is among 100 students from across the nation to have been selected as a 2022 Jack Kent Cooke Foundation Undergraduate Transfer Scholar.
The $55,000 annual scholarship will go toward tuition, living expenses, books and required fees associated with completing a bachelor’s degree.
“When I learned that I was one of the chosen recipients of such a prestigious scholarship I was utterly speechless,” said Solorio. “It felt as if my life had changed in an instant and that all my hard work had led me to this moment. I am deeply honored to have received this scholarship and am truly privileged to have attended College of the Canyons.”
Solorio graduated from COC on Friday with a liberal arts and sciences associate degree with a math and science emphasis.
The Sylmar resident is deciding between studying physiology at UCLA or biology at UCI.
“In the future I want to be an optometrist or an ophthalmologist with my own practice and possibly even fund my own community-based projects and public outreach programs both within the United States and third-world countries,” wrote Solorio in her scholarship application.
While at COC, Solorio served as president of Phi Theta Kappa and was awarded the Associated Student Government Exemplary Student Scholarship this spring. Solorio was also distinguished as a Silver Scholar on Coca-Cola’s 2022 Academic Team, All-California Award First Team, and as a Phi Theta Kappa’s 2022 HITE Transfer Scholar.
In addition, she was a member of the college’s NASA High Altitude Student Platform (HASP) project and Mathematics, Engineering and Science Achievement (MESA) program.
“This institution has opened so many doors for me and introduced me to so many amazing and inspiring people,” said Solorio. “I am grateful to have been a part of so many organizations and clubs, which have broadened my horizons and allowed me to gain the skills I needed to keep pushing myself. Within my time here, I’ve gained experiences I never thought would be available to me as a Latina and first-generation college student.”
More than 1,200 students from 332 community colleges applied to receive the Cooke Undergraduate Transfer Scholarship. Submitted applications were reviewed based on students’ academic ability, achievements, financial need, persistence, and leadership.
Aside from tuition aid, Cooke Undergraduate Transfer Scholars also receive comprehensive educational advisement, as well as opportunities related to internships, studying abroad, networking and graduate school funding.
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