Begun in 1999 by family and friends in memory of Kenny Gordon '94, this scholarship fund supports Skidmore students in the Higher Education Opportunity Program. Current Recipients: Loren Santana, 2013, New York, NY Katherine Garcia 2010, Bronx, NY Eilin M. Nunez 2009, New York, NY Mr. Haseeb Younas 2011, Bronx, NY Meet Your Skidmore College Scholarship Students Name: Loren Santana Class Year: 2013 Hometown: New York, NY Major: Mathematics and minors in German and Computer Science My favorite thing about Skidmore College is... I love that Skidmore College has so much to offer its students. I came here knowing I wanted to be a Math major but I never thought I would be interested in other fields. I took elementary German and completely fell in love with it. I also love the fact that you can finish your major and still have so much time to explore other subjects. Perhaps my favorite aspect about Skidmore is the access I have to HEOP and the Student Academics Services staff. They offer unconditional help 24/7. Whenever I have problems, either academic or personal, they are there to aid as much as possible. I know I would not succeed at Skidmore if they were not available to me. Please describe the experience/s that have most greatly defined your Skidmore College education... So far, my time at Skidmore has consisted of hard work and balancing a social life. There are so many interesting classes that I want to take, therefore, I try to take as many classes as possible each semester. Last year I was involved in Raices and Ujima, but this year my work load was a lot heavier, so I couldn't be involved. Instead, I joined the women's hockey club, which is something I had been wanting to do since last year, and I absolutely love it. This semester I also was a peer mentor which was one of the most remarkable experiences ever. It was great to work alongside Professor Susan Layden and to work with an amazing group of first year students. Coming to Skidmore has changed me in the following ways... Coming to Skidmore has completely changed my life. I had never even thought I would have the opportunity to go on to college because of economic reasons so just being here means a lot to me. I appreciate the relationships I've made here and everything I've learned and will continue to learn. I want to thank the Gordon Family for giving me this scholarship. I cannot wait to meet you and be able to personally thank you. This scholarship has made it significantly easier for me and my family to keep me in school and allow me to pursue my passion. Thank you! Name: Katherine Garcia Class Year: 2010 Hometown: Bronx, NY Major: Spanish major, Studio art minor My favorite thing about Skidmore College is... My favorite thing about Skidmore College is that I can be me! My favorite class/faculty member has been... It is difficult to choose a favorite class but one that I truly enjoyed and which I feel was perfect for my first year seminar is Human Dilemmas with Sue Layden. Coming to Skidmore has changed me in the following ways... I aspired to study abroad while attending Skidmore but I had no idea that I would be able to travel to so many areas of the world. Sophomore year I did a travel seminar to Argentina and Chile; spring semester of junior year I studied in Florence through Syracuse University; over the summer I traveled to South Africa with the Education class Journeys and Reflections; and last semester I studied in Alcala de Henares, Madrid through the Skidmore/Tufts program. I have been truly blessed with opportunities that unfortunately not many students around the world are able to experience. I have seen and learned so much through my travels and have had truly unforgettable experiences, all of which have helped me become a better student and individual. I would truly like to thank you, the Gordon Family and Friends, for your tremendous help these past three years. Thanks to you and Skidmore, I have had incredible experiences and opportunities studying at this distinguished institution. I am very grateful. One of my goals is to help other students with financial need so that they too can open their eyes to what our magnificent world has to offer, opportunities which are unfortunately often fogged and unspoken of in our neighborhoods. Name: Eilin Nunez Class Year: 2009 Hometown: Manhattan, NY Major: Spanish One thing I can do at Skidmore that I cannot do anywhere else is... Have the opportunity to study and live in other countries. Learn about life outside of the United States helps you broaden your horizons and grow as a person. An accomplishment that I am most proud of is... The academic and personal accomplishment that I am most proud of is having the opportunity to live and study in other parts of the world. My co-curricular activities include... I am a current member of Ujima and Raices which are two groups on campus. When I was studying in Spain I got the opportunity to volunteer at my host college to help other students with their English. I would love to thank once again the Gordon Family for this wonderful scholarship that they have given me. It has helped me and my family a great deal. I would also like to thank them for making my dream of studying abroad come true. Studying in Australia and Spain for a year was the best experience of my life, and I am really thankful to the Gordon Family for helping me get there. This scholarship has really helped me out a lot in the last three years. Name: Haseeb Younas Class Year: 2011 Hometown: New York, NY Major: Business and Economics One thing I can do at Skidmore that I cannot do anywhere else is... At Skidmore, I am involved in the Hayat club. Hayat is a club that strives to bring awareness to Skidmore students about South Asian, North African, and Middle Eastern cultures. Because Skidmore hs very few students from these areas, there is little knowledge about these peoples and their cultures. I feel that my involvement in Hayat is having a positive impact on other Skidmore students and is increasing awareness and acceptance of South Asian, North Sfrican, and Middle Eastern peoples. An accomplishment that I am most proud of is... In my first semester of freshman year, I took Introduction to Management and Business (MB107). MB 107 is widely regarded as on of the most difficult classes on campus and requires self discipline and dedication. Being my first semester in college, I was umcertain as to how well I had been prepared and was not sure if I would be able to handle the work load. By the end of the semester I had proven to myself and to my professors that I was a strong student who was dedicated and could hande the difficult work load of this notoriously difficult class. My co-curricular activities include... I am involved in many aspects of Skidmore outside of the classroom setting. I am the vice president of the hayat club, I am a supervisor in the SPA, and I tutor for MB 107 I would like to thank once the Kenny Gordon '94 Scholarship for helping to fund my college education. This scholarship has allowed me to study at an incredible institution, Skidmore College, and has opened up opportunities for me that I would not otherwise have been exposed to. Thank you for your support and assistance in my pursuit of higher education. New Kenny Gordon Scholars - 2009 - 2010 Academic Year Mr. Haseeb Younas, '11, comes to Skidmore's Opportunity Program from Manhattan International High School in Manhattan. He was ranked number 2 in a class of 75 and was very high achieving with a 96 average. As is the case with many of our HEOP students, Hasseb's SAT scores were below the general admission numbers and his Regents reflected a discrepancy with his GPA, indicative of coming from a High School that under prepares its students. As a Skidmore student, Haseeb has entirely closed any gap between his testing and his grades. In all but 1 semester, he has earned a fantastic 4.0 and his CUM GPA sits at 3.92 as a Management and Business major. At Skidmore he hasn't missed a beat - in fact, one of his favorite classes is a popular African Drumming class. Self-described accurately as "friendly and calm," Haseeb sees the injustice of stereotyping and always endeavors to make his mark as a wonderful citizen of Skidmore and the world. Chi Chong Tam, '12, is a graduate of John Dewey High School in Brooklyn. He came to Skidmore as a student excelling in math with work needed on his English skills; he had been in the United States only 1 year! The transition was difficult for Chi Chong, as his dad was out of the country tending to his sister, and his mother worked a night shift. He felt quite isolated but now considers himself "lucky" to have the fortitude to overcome hardship and to envision a bright future. This is certainly the case at Skidmore. Chi Chong has earned high honors every semester and his CUM GPA is a healthy 3.8. He has come an incredibly long way from the days of working in a Malaysian restaurant in New York and being blamed for poor English skills by customers. Chi Chong is now endeavoring to choose Econimics and his vastly improved writing skills will now be an asset. Kenny Gordon Scholarship Recipients October 2009 Maraki Dagnachew '05 Bronx, NY Katherine Garcia '10 Bronx, NY Vaughn K. Greene '08 Norfolk, VA Eilin M. Nunez '09 New York, NY Salome M. Ruperty '05 Bronx, NY Social Worker Independence Care System New York, NY Chi Chong Tam '12 Brooklyn, NY Markland L. Walker '04 New York, NY High School English Teacher Frederick Douglas Academy New York, NY Haseeb Younas '11 Bronx, NY Ibardo A. Zambrano '06 Bethesda, MD Research Assistant National Institutes of Health Bethesda, MD Wen Zhang '07 New York, NY Financial/Operational Analyst New York University School of Medicine New York, NY