Thet Mon Kyaw received the prestigious Jack Kent Cooke Foundation Undergraduate Transfer Scholarship. The Cooke Foundation selects 60 community college students from across the nation each year. It provides funding for the rest of a student’s undergraduate studies at the institution they transfer to. According to the Foundation’s webpage, “One objective of the scholarship is to allow Scholars to graduate with as little debt as possible. The award, which is last-dollar funding after all other institutional aid, can provide as much as $55,000 a year [for two to three years of study]. In addition to the financial support, Cooke Transfer Scholars receive comprehensive educational advising – guidance crucial for navigating their transition to four-year colleges and planning their career paths.”
Thet is graduating this spring with an A.S. for Transfer in Public Health; he has been active in the Myanmar Students Union, PTK, the Honors Transfer Program, and Active Minds. At Skyline College, he has been a tutor in Chemistry, Math, Biology, English, and ESOL. Additionally, he has explored various internship and volunteer opportunities, such as a health ambassador program through San Mateo Country and an intern program at Stanford Children’s Hospital. Thet has been accepted to Brown, NYU, Johns Hopkins, and Berkeley and is still deciding which school he would like to attend. He hopes to pursue a medical career to help refugees, underrepresented individuals, and people in war-torn countries.
Photo by: Kaung Myat Tun
Article by: Erinn Struss
