Brenda Perez has never let obstacles get in her way, and this persistence and dedication was recognized by GateWay Community College through a nomination to the All-Arizona Academic Team.
Through this nomination, she will be honored at a special luncheon and awarded a scholarship that covers tuition to one of Arizona’s three public universities.
Growing up, Perez wasn’t sure how she was going to pay for college. She was unable to apply for financial aid, and didn’t have a large sum of money to pay for it out of pocket. However, she got involved with the honors program at GateWay and was awarded the Presidents’ Scholarship, which covered four semesters of tuition at the college.
“I thought going to a community college was a more economical way to continue going to school and I just took advantage,” she said.
Perez chose GateWay because she had already been on the campus as part of her involvement with the Achieving a College Education program. She said she could not have made a better choice.
“GateWay is a very loving campus and the teachers are just amazing,” she said. “They know your struggles, they know how hard you work and they know your story so they try to push you and provide you with resources to make sure that you get everything taken care of.”
Originally from Chihuahua, Mexico, Perez came to America when she was three months old and went to several different schools before graduating from Trevor Browne High School in Phoenix.
She always knew she wanted to become a doctor, and after finishing high school, she started on the path to nursing.
After she finishes her nursing degrees, she would like to spend a year working as a RN to save money before continuing her education. At that point, she would either like to work toward becoming a nurse practitioner or go to medical school to become a doctor.
“I want to do it the safe route,” she said. “It’s a little longer, but that way I can become a little bit more financially stable to provide for myself a little bit better.”
Right now, Perez has her Associate in Science and is working toward completing the prerequisites to hopefully transfer to ASU’s nursing school so that she can obtain her Bachelor of Science in Nursing. Perez is also a member of Phi Theta Kappa Honor Society, the world’s largest honor society for two-year college students.
“My parents, they never really had an education growing up,” she said. “They made so many sacrifices to get me to where I am today.”
Perez hopes to attend ASU in the fall. The All-Arizona scholarship will help lessen the load of paying for her education.
“It’s a huge deal to me,” she said. “Being granted this scholarship means the world to me just as it does to my family.”
Perez and another GateWay student, Arsenija Zlaticanin, will be honored at a luncheon on March 9, 2017, for the All-Arizona Academic Team.