The 2012 Muse scholars are
joined by DCCCD Chancellor
Dr. Wright Lassiter and Lyn
and John Muse.
Contact: Eddie Miranda, 214-378-1541,
EMiranda@dcccd.edu or
Kathye Hammontree, 214-378-1536,
KHammontree@dcccd.edu
For immediate release — Aug. 31, 2012
(DALLAS) — Thirteen area community college students who demonstrate leadership potential and the determination to succeed have been named 2012-2013 Muse scholarship recipients by the Dallas County Community College District Foundation. The recipients also are selected on the basis of their focused educational goals and work ethic, along with proven leadership skills and academic achievement.
Initiated and funded by longtime DCCCD Foundation supporters Lyn and John Muse of Dallas, the Muse Scholars Program pays for each scholar’s college costs at DCCCD — including tuition, books and additional fees — to meet the requirements of his or her certification program or degree. Recipients may receive the Muse scholarship for up to six consecutive semesters.
“Determination and potential are key characteristics we look for in our Muse scholars,” said Betheny Reid, associate vice chancellor of development and president of the DCCCD Foundation. “Lyn and John Muse believe in those traits, as well as a strong work ethic and clear educational goals. Each recipient exhibits those characteristics, and we are excited to have them as students at DCCCD. They are future leaders, and we hope to help them reach their educational and professional goals.”
This year’s new Muse scholars, their hometowns, colleges and intended majors, are:
-
Mussie Abraha Abed of Richardson, El Centro College, nursing;
-
Everardo Amaya of Dallas, Eastfield College, renewable and sustainable energy;
-
Ernesto Banuelos of Irving, North Lake College, business administration and engineering;
-
Martha N. Barajas of Garland, El Centro College, nursing;
-
Courtney Belcher of Mesquite, El Centro and Eastfield colleges, nursing;
-
Domitila Lico Guevara of Rockwall, Richland College, international business and trade;
-
Rachel Slagle of Little Elm, Brookhaven and El Centro colleges; echocardiology technology; and
-
Chukwuka John Umeojiako of Addison, Brookhaven College, psychology.
Returning Muse scholars include:
-
Ahmed Rashad Elhelw of Addison, Brookhaven College, petroleum engineering;
-
Sharon Ji of Dallas, North Lake College, biology;
-
Michael W. Packer of Richardson, Richland College, accounting;
-
Erika Quinn of Garland, Richland College, architecture; and
-
Stephan B. Sawin of Glenn Heights, Mountain View College, business management.
For more information, contact Eddie Miranda, DCCCD Foundation director of marketing and communications, at 214-378-1541; or Kathye Hammontree, DCCCD Foundation director of board and donor relations, at 214-378-1536.
DCCCD Muse Scholars, 2012-2013
Biographical Sketches
•
Mussie Abraha Abed • Richardson • El Centro College • Nursing
Born and raised in the east African country of Ethiopia, Mussie Abed began kindergarten early, and his teachers decided that he had the academic potential needed to attend private school. Although he continued to excel in his studies and earn academic awards every year, including one from Ethiopia’s Ministry of Education, war in both his native and adopted countries forced him to leave school and enter mandatory military service. Continuing his education in the U.S., he plans to earn an associate degree in nursing at El Centro College to “make a difference” in not only his own life but also in those of his prospective patients. During his military service, he conducted health sanitation classes to help promote a clean environment and fight malaria. His student leadership roles in Africa included serving as the head of his school’s theater and music clubs, and also setting up peer tutoring groups for college-level mathematics and health professions skills. A self-described extrovert, he believes that his positive personality and life experience have equipped him to overcome obstacles. “I look at failure as an opportunity to learn,” he says. “I have exhibited the promise and vision to make a difference for the better. My academic studies are serious for me.” Abed maintains a 3.94 grade point average at El Centro and hopes to become a registered nurse, continuing his education for advancement and specialization.
•
Everardo Amaya • Dallas • Eastfield College • Renewable and Sustainable Energy
Everardo Amaya’s life forever changed when a high school teacher encouraged him to take a role in student government. Shy by nature, he had changed schools back and forth from Mexico, and he also attended a low-performing Dallas school where many of his peers were involved in gangs. “I was the quiet, chubby kid with the thick accent, no purpose and no friends,” he says. When a teacher started a student council and encouraged him to seek office, “I thought she was crazy!” he remembers. “But I decided it was time for a change in the school and in my life. I was voted junior class president and at that moment, my life changed forever — I was now a leader in the making.” Amaya attended a leadership workshop that summer and was elected senior class president at a time when his high school was being reorganized, varsity sports dissolved and school spirit was at an all-time low. He helped start a Big Brothers/Big Sisters group to advise and encourage freshmen, and he was rewarded with increased participation in school activities and student government. After high school graduation, Amaya began studying business, but his grades suffered because he lacked motivation. He found his career focus in Eastfield College’s renewable/sustainable energy program, and he recommitted to both academics and leadership. Founder and president of the college’s Renewable Energy Club, Amaya helps educate the public on environmental protection and renewable energy sources.
•
Ernesto Banuelos • Irving • North Lake College • Business Administration and Engineering
Ernesto Banuelos has learned from difficult personal experience what it means to be responsible and disciplined. After his mother suffered a stroke that permanently damaged her brain five years ago, he has helped with her rehabilitation and daily tasks, as well as taking care of his younger brother. He also has become a responsible leader at school, participating in the Peer Assistant Leader (PAL) mentoring program and helping a friend run a peer support group that encourages minority students to go to college. He was a varsity swimmer and water polo player at MacArthur High School in Irving, where he served as captain of both teams and helped raise funds, organize meets and games, and tutor teammates. He has helped with the Hispanic Youth Institute, a week-long activity camp hosted by the Hispanic College Fund, and during one summer worked as a production crew member for the United Way Video Challenge. He also founded and served as his high school’s first president of a junior chapter of the American Institute of Architecture Students, and he helped plan trips to outstanding architectural sites and volunteered for home improvement service projects. “My career goals include becoming an entrepreneur,” he says. “I want to major in engineering and business and one day be able to come up with a product or service that will help our society and our environment. I want to do something out of the ordinary, and I know that this requires hard work and effort.”
•
Martha N. Barajas • Garland • El Centro College • Nursing
The first person in her family to go to college, Martha Barajas hopes to become a registered nurse and travel the world to help children in need. Graduating from Garland’s Naaman Forest High School with a 4.08 GPA, she was active as a clarinet section leader in the marching band and president of the decoration crew for the Cinco de Mayo school assembly. “These events and others have taught me to become a strong young woman with great working skills that I can apply anywhere I go,” she says. Other volunteer and service activities included volunteering at her church, working with a charity to distribute free school supplies to lower-income students, volunteering for community and school recycling projects, and volunteering at a hospital. Barajas also served as a volunteer for the Music Choice Festival and the Lone Star Showcase of Music at Richardson’s Eisemann Center. She is acutely conscious of difficult personal financial circumstances in part due to her father’s unemployment, leaving the family of five dependent on her mother’s income. “I want to repay my parents for everything they have sacrificed for me and, in the long run, help them out the way they helped me,” she says. “Having my mind set on what I want to do will most certainly help me become more determined to take the right path to my nursing career.”
•
Courtney Belcher • Mesquite • El Centro and Eastfield colleges • Nursing
Courtney Belcher first became a leader on the basketball court, serving for three years as the girls’ team captain at Mesquite’s Poteet High School. Although she never thought of herself as a natural leader when she was younger, her passion for basketball and team leadership grew into the desire to help others off the court as well. A self-described extrovert who loves to help people, Belcher aspires to become a registered nurse and will take prerequisite courses at both Eastfield and El Centro colleges in the fall. “I am not the smartest student who ever walked the planet,” she says, “but I work hard to achieve the things necessary for my future. I know I want to be a nurse, and I know that with hard work comes success.” Belcher’s Poteet English teacher and coach advisor is also positive about her former student and player’s future success. “Courtney is one of those kids who can really handle constructive criticism, not only listening to be respectful but also adamant in applying and perfecting the skills for her improvement,” says Marli Roberts. “I have no doubt that this unique ability and desire to be better will prove to be incredibly valuable throughout her college career as she faces the difficulties and challenges in her field of nursing.”
•
Domitila Lico Guevara • Rockwall • Richland College • International Business and Trade
Born and raised in El Salvador, Domitila Lico Guevara realized after the country’s financial collapse in 2008 that higher education would be her only hope for securing work in the future. “I am a person who likes challenges,” she says. “Coming to live in this country was and still is a challenge for me, having left my family, culture, language and customs. But knowing the opportunities that lay ahead gave me encouragement to keep fighting for them and dreaming of what may come.” Living with an uncle in the U.S., she works full time and takes a full course load, a challenge that she says she manages by being organized and efficient. As a high school senior in El Salvador, she was valedictorian and student body president; she also set up a volunteer project for students to visit and entertain residents of a nursing home. At Richland College, where she is majoring in international business and trade, she maintains a 4.0 GPA, was named to the President’s Honor Roll and is a member of Phi Theta Kappa, the academic honor society for two-year college students. “I would like to be part of a socially international company in Latin America that focuses on helping poor communities,” she says. “It is my desire to be an example to others who are struggling in their lives — that they should step out into the unknown, be bold in spirit and seek their dreams for a better life through education.”
•
Rachel Slagle • Little Elm • Brookhaven and El Centro colleges • Echocardiology Technology
Returning to college after 20 years, Rachel Slagle has spent 17 years in the health care field and eight in the business world. Six of those years in health care were spent working in nursing homes, including an Alzheimer’s ward. “I decided to return to the medical field because I enjoy helping others and the satisfaction that comes with it,” she says of her plans to study echocardiology technology at El Centro College with prerequisite courses at Brookhaven College. Active in her church as a youth fundraiser coordinator, as well as cook and server for special events, she also successfully organized a Susan G. Komen three-day “Walk for the Cure” team to participate in the fundraising event for breast cancer research. “I have found throughout my life that choosing to be a ‘glass half full’ person makes going through it easier,” she says. “I try to always see the light at the end of the tunnel and have a smile on my face because I know that our time here on earth is precious, and we need to make the most of it.”
•
Chukwuka John Umeojiako • Addison • Brookhaven College • Psychology
As a high school student in his native Nigeria, Chukwuka John Umeojiako helped form the school’s first student government, creating a link between administration and the student body; he also served as the president of the Junior Engineers Technicians and Scientists Club, and some of the club’s projects were exhibited for the Nigerian Society of Engineers. Immigrating to the U.S. and beginning studies at Brookhaven College, where he plans to major in psychology, he joined the college’s Student Leadership Institute and Student Government Association, serving as its parliamentarian. The group volunteered at the North Texas Food Bank and organized a fundraising holiday celebration, and Umeojiako recently served on a student forum posing questions to college administrators. “Having the conviction of what I want to do in life drives the focus of my life,” he says. “I want to be a counselor. I am passionate about inspiring and motivating people to achieve and maximize their potential. I consider being involved (in college activities) as a means to strengthen my character and dream to be a counselor, and also to deepen my commitment to people.” Umeojiako maintains a grade point average of 4.0 and is a member of Phi Theta Kappa, the national academic honor society for two-year institutions of higher education.
Returning Muse scholars include:
•
Ahmed Rashad Elhelw • Addison • Brookhaven College • Petroleum Engineering
After he grew up in Egypt, Ahmed Rashad Elhelw wanted to honor his father’s wishes to continue his college studies in the U.S., though he died barely a month after Elhelw arrived in the States. He had previously completed an air conditioning and refrigeration degree in his native country, as well as college-level business administration and computer science courses, both with top grades. He began classes at Brookhaven College in January of 2010 with two semesters of English as a second language, where he maintained a 4.0 GPA. Now fluent in English, in addition to Arabic, Elhelw dreams of becoming a petroleum engineer and earning bachelor’s and master’s degrees after he graduates from Brookhaven. Former historian for the college’s Student Government Association, he attended regional and national conferences for the organization and has helped raise money for community outreach. He works part time in Brookhaven’s Student Life Center to defray his expenses. “My family in Egypt has limited resources,” he says. “I never dreamt that I would ever be able to go to the U.S. to attend college. I always had a dream to study engineering; once I had the opportunity to study in the U.S., I was so happy to see my dreams become a reality.” He maintained a 4.0 GPA this spring at Brookhaven College, where he is majoring in geographic information systems.
•
Sharon Ji • Dallas • North Lake College • Biology
Sharon Ji wants not only to become a pediatric surgeon but also to use her medical expertise to volunteer for the World Health Organization (WHO) in a third-world country. Currently working three jobs and living on her own, she attributes some of her own determination to succeed to witnessing her parents’ loss of their self-owned business to bankruptcy and their dream house to foreclosure. Told by her parents that she was “thinking past their dreams,” she lost their financial support and left home with $80 in her pocket to seek her own way of life. “Self-sacrifice, hard work, fortitude, perseverance and personal responsibilities were many personal characteristics I acquired along the way,” she says. At Grand Prairie High School, she was valedictorian, received the Rochester University Humanitarian Award and served as president of the National Honor Society. She also has volunteered at a nursing home and with Habitat for Humanity, and she has held jobs as diverse as restaurant hostess, parking attendant, tutor and chiropractic assistant. “The testimony I leave behind is not of sad and broken memories of my parents’ regrets and my misgivings,” she says. “I will bear witness to my own life.” Her cumulative GPA is 3.5.
•
Erika Quinn • Garland • Richland College • Architecture
The first in her family to attend college, Erika Quinn feels the weight of her family’s expectations on her shoulders. With the goal of becoming an architect with her own business or even an “imagineer” for Disney theme parks, she says she would like her career goals to follow her “passion for creating and making my visions become a reality.” She was the recipient of the Garland Independent School District’s Academic Excellence Award for three consecutive years and was a member of the National Honor Society and National Spanish Honor Society in high school. She tutored younger students at Rowlett High School and participated in several volunteer activities such as food drives, Toys for Tots and March of Dimes. Covering all of her own extra living expenses, including education, she works as an assistant manager at a bowling alley in Rowlett, where she worked her way up the job ladder from party host and snack bar cashier. “Above all, I believe in responsibility,” she says. “It is important to have priorities in life and, more important, to follow them through.”
•
Michael W. Packer • Richardson • Richland College • Accounting
Earning an associate degree with a field of study in business at Richland College is just the first step in Michael Packer’s higher education plan. Then he wants to pursue a bachelor’s degree in accounting and perhaps a master’s degree in health care management. He maintains a 4.0 GPA in his college studies and is a member of Phi Theta Kappa, the academic honor society for two-year colleges. He has done volunteer work with his church since he was in sixth grade in numerous capacities, which include serving on the youth leadership board, representing his local synod in a nationwide assembly and performing with the contemporary musical worship team. Some of his favorite volunteer experiences include teaching summer school in New Orleans and taking a mission trip to Puerto Rico. He has worked as an instructional assistant for Richardson Independent School District’s after-school PACE program, tutoring second graders, and Packer was awarded the Service Learning Award Medallion at his high school graduation for his volunteer activities. He describes himself as “caring, hard-working and positive, ready to help the world with my strong leadership skills.”
•
Stephan B. Sawin • Glenn Heights • Mountain View College • Business Management
Stephan Sawin already has practical experience in the business arena, based on his jobs as a janitorial crew member, as a shift leader in a pizza restaurant and as an asset protection specialist at a Best Buy in Cedar Hill, where he helps account for workplace keys and tools. Active as a youth leader in his church, he leads a home Bible study group and has coordinated study groups at Mountain View College. Maintaining a college GPA of 3.67, he is a member of Phi Theta Kappa, the academic honor society for two-year colleges; received the Presidential Honors Award in 2008 and 2010; and is also a member of the college’s Sigma Delta Mu Spanish Honor Society. After earning an associate degree in business management at Mountain View, he plans to earn bachelor’s and master’s degrees and to work first for an established company and perhaps one day go into the music business on his own. “Ultimately, I can see my career advancing to the point of fulfilling my dream: training and working with a team of outstanding individuals and managing a successful business — or even multiple small businesses,” he says. “As I continue to learn, I would love to start my own business and even enter new fields such as the music industry and manage artists or promote concerts and tours. I know I can succeed because of my passion and strong work ethic.”
# # #