North Carolina's community colleges are creating success for students across the state.
Sampson Community College has named Joshua Bradley Mesimer to receive the 2015 Academic Excellence Award.
My name is Paula Alanis and although I was born in the USA I grew up in Mexico. I returned to the United States when I was 18 with my wonderful husband. We didn't know the culture or the language we decided to come here for better opportunities.
I always wanted to do something with my life, but didn’t exactly make the best plan of action to make that possible. I am twenty-nine years old, I worked in collections a few years but for the most part, I’ve been in the restaurant industry all my life.
At first, I was drawn to Rockingham Community College to be a part of the baseball team, but I realized shortly after I started in the fall of 2013 that school was my priority.
Being born and raised in the state of Maryland for 12 years, moving to Lumberton, North Carolina was a difficult transition. I overcame my culture shock and learned to adapt to my new environment by keeping an open mind and building relationships with my new teachers and people in the community.
I arrived at Roanoke-Chowan Community College in 2011 at the age of fourteen as a college student and a full-time high school student. I quickly discovered a few challenges; such as the class sizes were different and I had to interact with more adults than teenagers.
I am the type of person who is driven to succeed. Many people throughout my life told me I would never make it. In June 2011, I graduated from Richmond Senior High School with a GPA of 3.75.
Growing up I struggled through school, so initially I decided against college. At first it was fine, but after this past recession I realized without furthering my education I would not be able to provide a decent living for my family.
First, please allow me to begin by saying that I am a high school dropout. I start with this information because it is an event that has set the tone for most of my adult life. In March of 2004, three years before my high school graduation, I decided to discontinue school.
Going back to school was a decision that was a long time coming for me. I was a bit of a rebel back in my youth and decided to forego college right after high school and instead entered the proverbial School of Hard Knocks.
About ten years after getting my GED from Piedmont Community College, the opportunity arose for me to finally begin my college education. I always knew I wanted to get a degree, but things just never worked out.
My family moved to Pamlico County in 2011. I was a high school dropout, working on homeschool assignments.
In elementary school and middle school, I was an A and B student. At the age of 17, my senior year of high school, my life took a 360 degree turn because of making a wrong decision. I graduated from high school with a very disappointing GPA and begin working a full time job, which I did not lik
There were several reasons I decided to go back to school. As a mother of four children, I wanted to set a good example for my children so they would understand the value of education. I wanted to achieve something I had waited twenty years to do.
I moved from New York to North Carolina, before my last year of high school, and I was unsure where I wanted to attend college. Starting in 2013, I chose Mitchell Community College because employees greeted me with kindness, and I could settle into my new surroundings.
Fearing I shall sound pretentious when others read this, I will begin by saying I am humbled with being selected out of so many, to receive this Award of Academic Excellence.
Mayland Community College’s 2015 North Carolina Community College System’s Academic Excellence Award recipient is Matthew Ray. He will graduate with his Associate Degree in Nursing this May, and intends to continue his education at a four-year institution after graduating.
The decision to attend Martin Community College came very naturally to me. I knew MCC would be the best option for me, because it was close to home and was a smaller institution.
Ever since I was a little girl, my dream was to become a doctor. I did not know what kind of doctor I wanted to be. All I knew was that I wanted to help someone and maybe even save a life or two, or three, or even a hundred.
In 2010, I graduated from Central Carolina Community College with an Associate Degree in Lasers and Photonics. I had to look for a job outside the state due to economy. Half a year after graduating, I found a good job in Delaware. I packed all my things and moved to an unknown place with no fr