2018 Scholarship Recipients
Tobi Akerele
The feeling of loneliness is not one I would wish upon anyone. Born in Nigeria, and raised by two different families, I was essentially abandoned by my parents, who had left for the United States, at the age of one. What hurt the most was that both left. As their first born, I thought would they not want to see me ride a bike for the first time, or even hear me say my first words. For eight years, my life, the family I had thought mine — my entire existence felt like a lie, and I simply did not know whom to trust. I felt angry, but most of all, abandoned.
In 2011, I finally moved to America to live with my birth parents. This experience shaped who I am today. Arriving in America not knowing a single person, I had to accustom myself to new family and foreign surroundings before I became willing and courageous enough to put myself out there to connect with others. This initial trauma prepared me to face future rejections and helped me learn how to push through. Now every time I come across a challenging situation, I think back to moments I had alone and tell myself I do not want to feel helpless, or lost, again.
Being a leader means you need to have a vision and set the direction. Through that vision, you motivate, inspire, build trust and connections. Therefore, you need to know how to overcome obstacles and stay focused. During my academic career, I strived to always be at the top. As for my community, I want to help others so that they can reach their goals. This is why I worked as a mentor with Higher Levin Steel Inc., a non-profit community-based program. Through this program I was able to teach, coordinate, and reach out to kids through music which comforts and helps them find refuge. I also participate in the Harlem Educational Activities Fund, an afterschool program in East Harlem, where I’ve had the opportunity to mentor and tutor participants. As a leader, I made sure the students had a safe space where they could express themselves and be who they are, so that they don’t feel the same way I did.
At Trinity college, I plan on participating in the Mechanical Engineering and Physics program. Thus, helping me moving closer to achieving my goal of becoming an Aerospace Engineer. Also, I plan to participate in athletic and music programs. My parents each currently work two jobs and due to unforeseeable living costs and fees for Trinity College, my parents would be unable to purchase a laptop for me. With the $1000, I would be able to purchase a laptop and the software required for engineering students, which would help me manage my workload, and assignments, getting them done in a timely manner.
Regina Fontanelli
A good leader cares about the well-being of their team. They’re a little socialist, but understand the value of a dollar. They prioritize the voices of their crew. A good leader is not the most intimidating one, the richest one, the loudest one, but the one who gives everyone a chance to be heard. That’s the leader I strive to be and I am. “Only as strong as your weakest link” just means making sure everyone is on their A-game. Everyone is a leader and should be treated as such.
I suppose I get it from my mother, a woman battered by mental illness and environmental distress her whole life. Standing up for her, sitting down with her when she’s sad, hearing her lonely heart out has filled me with invaluable compassion and a fire to defend the jeopardized. As I got older, the fire took other forms. In High School, I found satisfaction through directing and producing. I began with assisting teachers, but evolved into directing and writing my own work. The process was inspiring. I was able to produce a good show while considering the feedback of my actors and creating a safe, welcoming setting, a method a traditional director would never bother to attempt.
My creative side found its home in writing. In my freshmen year, I joined The Magnet, my school's literary magazine. By senior year, I’d become editor. There’s no work more rewarding than creating a space for others work to shine. My most rewarding venture has been being a part of Girls Write Now, a non-profit pairing high school girls with writing mentors. In my years there, I’ve learned to spread my message in creative, compelling work.
My goals at Middlebury aren’t quantifiable. I hope to get involved with DREAM and mentor another person the way I was mentored. I want to be a contribution to the schools slam team, as well as their publication, BlackBird. I want to take every writing/philosophy/film/directing class I can. I really, really want to learn Spanish and study abroad so I can be immersed in a different culture and widen my understanding. Basically, I want to leave this school philosophical genius, or at least, on the road to becoming one. Middlebury is a great school for expanding your mind, while staying kind and grounded.
Receiving this award will lessen the financial burdens on my shoulders. I lack the basic winter clothes someone needs to survive in Vermont. I haven’t even owned serious winter boots since I was in middle school. Vermont is freezing, my just-enough-to-get-by attitude towards clothing is not going to work there. My receiving this award will ensure that I’m able to stay warm and focus on my studies. It will also help with textbooks, tampons, and emergencies. Even with a full-tuition scholarship, going to college is expensive.
Aisha Rodriguez
I strongly believe that in order to be a leader, one must desire and work towards radical change. In attempts to bring that change, I have lived my life by the quote: “Do not go where one path may lead, go instead where there is no path and leave a trail,” by Ralph Waldo Emerson. Within my family as well as my professional aspirations, I have never seen a role model whom completed the goals I have set out for myself. Nobody in my family has yet gone to college, and for me to attend Dickinson College next semester, I will be beginning my journey off of the path society deemed to be set for someone like me - a poor Hispanic woman. I am determined to use what I learn in college to create more opportunities for adolescents to design their own paths.
I aspire to make change for both my family and my larger community. Being raised by my grandmother who immigrated to the United States from Puerto Rico, I have held large responsibilities such as advocating for her to receive adequate health care ever since I was a young child. At the same time, I had saw constant police brutality and gun violence within my community and had to learn how to protect myself and my friends. Learning to advocate for my family and peers has inspired me to advocate for larger underrepresented communities.
When I began high school, I experienced blatant racism and became aware that the murders of young Hispanic and black boys was a national issue, and not just a local one. I have worked to lead open discussions about the mistreatment of students of color by both other students and staff and have fought for more education on social issues occurring internationally to Persons of Color. In order to further these conversations from just what is happening to how to change it, as well as bridge these conversations to my community, I translated them into art. I use art as a means to not only discuss what issues are occurring Internationally, nationally, and locally to how to create the changes needed. On campus, I plan to further advocate for minorities, and would aspire to further this work to fight for legislation.
The HESUS scholarship will allow me to focus on my studies and social activism, rather than finding ways to become financially stable away from home. My grandmother has many health complications, and our only source of income is government aid. Next month, I am turning eighteen, and the amount of aid my grandmother receives may get cut sharply. This scholarship will assist me in affording trips home in case of an emergency, as well as help with health expenses if needed.