Northern Essex Student from Haverhill Up for Prestigious National Scholarship

Tiary Gonzalez of Haverhill was chosen as a semi-finalist for the Jack Kent Cooke Undergraduate Transfer Scholarship. (Courtesy photograph.)

Tiary Gonzalez of Haverhill is one of just eight community college students across the state to be chosen as a semi-finalist for the competitive Jack Kent Cooke Undergraduate Transfer Scholarship.

Gonzalez, a Northern Essex Community College business transfer student, is eligible to receive up to $40,000 to complete her bachelor’s degree at a four-year college or university. She moved to Haverhill from the Dominican Republic when she was 17. With English as her second language, attending college at all seemed daunting.

“But I decided to change my reality,” Gonzalez said. She enrolled in classes at Northern Essex, despite having been out of school for nine years. “I was scared but really excited. I was determined, no matter how afraid I was,” she remembers.

She said her confidence grew after winning an award in her English Composition writing class. She went on to join the volleyball team, Civics Scholar Program, National Society of Leadership and Success and became president of Phi Theta Kappa Honor Society, all while maintaining a perfect grade point average. Gonzalez is also part of the Pathways to Academic and Career Excellence program, known as PACE for short, which is designed to connect first generation college students with resources and support. She is currently working on a project to graduate with honors this spring and will receive the Global Studies Department Award in Economics.

Gonzalez plans to major in finance and has already been accepted into five schools, including Boston University and Bentley University.

Comments are closed.