Sona Malakyan and Lindsay Tabit have visions for their life and goals for their education. Both GateWay Community College students will be awarded the All-USA Scholarship in February and will graduate in May.
Malakyan had a dream of learning English since she was a young girl.
“I can remember being five-years-old looking in the mirror and pretending to speak English,” she recounted.
Malakyan moved to the United States from Russia almost four years ago on a work visa. After working for a few months she decided to change her visa to become a student. She initially attended Arizona State University in the American English and Culture Program before coming to GateWay.
Her scholarship will cover the cost of instate tuition, about 50 percent since she is an international student. Malakyan plans to study Supply Chain Management at the W. P. Carey School of Business. She wants to continue her education further with a master’s in linguistics. Malakyan studied linguistics for three years in Russia.
“When you have your goals it is easier,” said Malakyan about her motivation.
At GateWay, Malakyan is the Phi Theta Kappa Honor Society president. She is also the treasurer of World Explorers Club. Malakyan works on campus in the International Office where she peer mentors the students from Brazil this semester.
“The thing that distinguishes both of these students is how much service and how active they are in the community; that is what stood out when we were looking at the scholarship applications,” said Ferdinand Hunter, Honors faculty director.
Along with Malakyan, Tabit also has a list of achievements in the GateWay community. She is active in student clubs and as a peer advocate.
As a peer advocate, she works face to face with students who may be struggling in their courses and is having trouble succeeding in class.
Tabit started GateWay after graduating a year early from high school. She is pursuing an associate degree in science and will be using her All-USA Scholarship to attend the University of Arizona to get a bachelor’s in physiology. Tabit aspires to be a physician’s assistant.
Tabit is involved in PTK, along with Club INSITE and was in the Black Student Union when the club was active.
“This is your community, it is not just where you go to school. Getting involved is one of those things that links you,” said Tabit about GateWay. “It becomes more than just where you go to school. And once you realize that, it is a really good experience.”
The minimum qualifications for the All-USA Scholarship is a 3.5 GPA and be set to have 48 credit hours by the end of student’s second year. The scholarship is open to any student. Application deadline is in early October. Interested students can get information from Hunter.