重点报道系列:Emily Harmon

帕洛阿尔托学院's annual scholarship fundraiser, ¡Una Nueva Celebración!, 筹得超过$1,000,000 in committed funds to directly support students, 教师, 员工继续接受教育. The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley (UTRGV) gave five full-ride scholarships (tuition, 房间, board) for 帕洛阿尔托学院 students to attend UTRGV upon completing their associate degrees. Emily Harmon was selected as one of the scholarship recipients.

就像一些第一次上大学的学生, Emily Harmon struggled with putting her pride aside and asking for help. 然而, 在独自挣扎之后, Harmon realized the benefits of asking for help, she highly encourages all people to ask for help when needed.

"As humans, we like to think everything is all on us when it's really not," said Harmon. “我们被人包围是有原因的. 你并不孤单，即使你自认为如此."

Originally from San Diego, Harmon attended a community college for three years after high school. She struggled in school, not knowing where to seek help or what questions to ask. 当她父母搬离这个地区的时候, Harmon had no choice but quit school and relocate to 圣安东尼奥 with her mother, in hopes to save enough money to return back to college.

A year and half passed before she chose to attend 帕洛阿尔托学院. 受经济困难的影响, Harmon studied Biology back in California because she thought it could make her a lot of money; however, 在圣安东尼奥重新开始, she decided to pursue her true passion of teaching English and writing stories.

Harmon said that the 教师 and staff at 帕洛阿尔托学院 helped her find answers to questions she didn't even know to ask. Her experience has given her the courage to ask for help when she needs it and changed her outlook on higher education and life.

"I feel like the advisors care more here," said Harmon. "I struggled a little bit during [my time in San Diego], but here it's been easier getting help."

She immediately found success at 帕洛阿尔托学院. As her grades began to rise, so did her confidence in herself. She mentioned that earning a college education would play a tremendous role in how she would achieve her goals of starting a career using an English degree.

"I feel like I was meant to go to PAC," Harmon said. "[My education] is my main avenue for getting to where I want to be in life."

Harmon said 帕洛阿尔托学院 has provided her the resources to get her to her next step, including the opportunity to receive a full-ride scholarship from UTRGV.

"I'm still trying to get over the fact that it happened to me," said Harmon. “我现在还是有点被它震撼了. It just means that I finally know where my next step is going to be."

Her dreams range wide and long, as does her love for teaching and traveling. Getting an education will open up more doors and opportunities for her to pursue a career that will allow her to travel.

"To start, I want to be able to teach English abroad in foreign countries," Harmon said. “我一直想去旅行, 我认为这是最好的方法, 因为当你有收入的时候, you also get the chance to explore those cities and meet people from there."

UTRGV承诺815美元,000 in total to support the five full-ride UTRGV scholarships for graduating PAC students – 艾伦Galindo, 泰勒男妓艾米丽·哈蒙 乔纳森•吉恩, Gabino Olalde –   while also committing 150 scholarships for employees to use toward their master's and doctoral degrees from UTRGV, 资助五名研究助理, 再加25美元,000 donation to the general PAC Scholarship Fund to support students currently attending 帕洛阿尔托学院.

通过有价值的伙伴关系提供资金, 比如UTRGV, provides scholarships to help 帕洛阿尔托学院 students attain their educational goals. The 阿拉莫大学 Foundation facilitates over 40 scholarship opportunities, which students attending 帕洛阿尔托学院 or anywhere in the 澳门新葡京博彩区 can apply for with a single application. The 2019 scholarship application will open on Jan. 7, 2019. 欲了解更多信息，请访问 阿拉莫.edu/pac/scholarships.