If it wasn’t for the Learn to
Dream Scholarship, Faten Fanharawi would not have continued her education
beyond high school. She is the first member of her family to go to college.
“If I didn’t know about the
Learn to Dream Scholarship, I wouldn’t continue my education because colleges
cost a lot of money,” Fanharawi said. “None of my parents work, so they can’t
help me financially.”
The Learn to Dream
Scholarship covers one year of tuition at Southeast Community College.
Approximately 300 Learn to Dream students are registered each quarter at SCC.
Fanharawi moved to the United
States from Iraq two years ago. As a student at North Star High School in
Lincoln, she received information about the Learn to Dream scholarship from her
counselor. As a result, she has goals and hopes to one day help disadvantaged
people from other countries.
After another year at SCC,
she plans to attend the University of Nebraska-Lincoln and study chemistry,
then apply to pharmacy school.
“I am working hard to achieve
my goals because I could help a lot of poor countries in the future,” she said.
“I love to help, and that’s why I choose to be a pharmacist someday.”
Fanharawi is one of four
recipients of the Learn to Dream Achiever Award. To qualify, students must have
completed at least two quarters at SCC.
“This is awarded to a select
group of students who have distinguished themselves in their academic
excellence and have demonstrated maturity, motivation and a commitment to intellectual
growth,” said Brock Zautke, Learn to Dream Recruitment and Retention Specialist
at SCC.
A new award this year is the
Learn to Dream Instructor Impact Award. This award is presented to a faculty
member who has gone above and beyond to support LTD students. Speech Communication
Instructor, Ivette Trentini, is this year’s recipient.
The Learn to Dream Spring
Celebration will be held from 5:30-7:30 p.m. May 24 at SCC’s Lincoln Campus.
The event will recognize all of the Gold Achievement (4.0 grade-point average)
and Silver Achievement (3.5 GPA) Award recipients, in addition to the
graduates.
“Without Learn to Dream, I
would give up on my dreams and goals of being a successful, independent woman
in the future,” Fanharawi added.
The Learn to Dream
Scholarship, which was created in 2007, is a joint effort between Nelnet, Union
Bank & Trust and SCC. All high school seniors in Lincoln who qualify for
free and reduced lunch are eligible. There is no GPA requirements to get
accepted, but a minimum cumulative 2.0 GPA must be earned at SCC to maintain
it.