Brookdale Community College students Aidan Deluca, Cathleen Kane and Valeska Yaninas have been named 2020 Coca-Cola Leaders of Promise Scholars and were awarded a $1,000
scholarship to Brookdale, the county college of Monmouth County.
Deluca, Kane and Yaninas are all members of Phi Theta Kappa (PTK), the international honor society of two-year colleges. The Coca-Cola Leaders of Promise Scholarship Program helps new PTK members defray educational expenses while they are enrolled in associate degree programs, according to a press release.
Deluca, of South River, is an architecture major who will be starting his second year at Brookdale in September. He said the scholarship will help him with the costs associated with his architecture studio classes.
“We often spend much of our own money on supplies to create the best projects and best portfolios, so the scholarship will go a long way,” Deluca said about architecture students.
“I am very excited and extremely grateful for the honor,” he said about receiving the scholarship.
Kane, a resident of Hazlet who wants to study education, got a personal recommendation about the college as her father studied at Brookdale as well, according to the press release.
“My dad would tell me all about Brookdale’s beautiful campus and all these years later he could still tell me stories about how much he learned, as well as how he met some of his lifelong friends on campus,” she said.
Cost also influenced Kane’s decision to start her college journey at Brookdale.
“I realized I was getting the same education as any highly accredited university, but with a major price cut,” she said.
Yaninas, a resident of Howell, will be graduating from Brookdale in December, so,
unfortunately, she will not be able to accept the scholarship. To be eligible, students have to attend community college in both the fall and spring semesters, according to the press release.
“Although this is devastating news for me and I would have really appreciated the money to help pay off my tuition, I am excited for my final semester at Brookdale,” she said.
In the spring of 2021, Yaninas plans to attend Georgian Court University, Lakewood, to study psychology and education, according to the press release.
