Cooke Scholar Valentina d'Empaire Urges Students to Apply
Valentina d’Empaire is beginning her junior year at Johns Hopkins University. Last year at this time, she was going back to school at the Honors College at Miami Dade College. Receiving our Undergraduate Transfer Scholarship allowed Valentina to transfer from community college to an elite four-year school without financial restraints.
Valentina says that being a Cooke Scholar has value beyond the $40,000 per year to complete her undergraduate degree. “It means being part of a community … of people from around the globe and from different cities, from different countries.”
A proud Venezuelan, Valentina now calls Miami, Florida her home. She studies civil and environmental engineering with the goal of becoming an environmental urban developer. “Being that Miami is going to drown in 5 years, I want to see if I can fix it,” she says.
She also has a message for current community college students: