THE IMPACT OF A BELLE ZELLER SCHOLARSHIP:

My dream is to practice emergency medicine and to become a district surgeon for the NYPD. First responders put others first to serve and protect every day, and I want to serve and care for those who serve us so selflessly. This scholarship was essential in helping me lighten the financial burden of undergraduate education --- Clarence Kong, Sixth year Medical Student, CUNY School of Medicine

This scholarship allowed me to complete my studies at Hunter College, studying English Literature, African, Puerto Rican and Latino Studies, and my own major: South Asian Decolonial Feminisms, and to pursue my interests around social justice and equity in my community. I have been accepted to a postcolonial graduate program at the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London, [and] applied for a research grant, and a fellowship in the city focusing on city agencies and their relationship with the community. To have received this prestigious scholarship has allowed me [to grow] in ways that I couldn’t even imagine --- Pooja Chopra, Community Organizer, Queens, and Senior, Hunter College of the City University of New York

With this award, I paid for two semesters of tuition, student fees for one year, and 27% of field collection and laboratory research expenses for the second of three chapters of my doctoral research. Without this award, I would not have been able to complete my field collections, which are a critical component to successfully defend my doctoral dissertation --- Jimiane Ashe, Doctoral Candidate, CUNY Graduate Center/Brooklyn College Program in Biology

The scholarship allowed me to focus on my research and other academic obligations. Now graduating at the top of my class in the Political Science Department, I am pursuing a career in social justice and public service. I truly could not have done it without the help of the Belle Zeller Scholarship --- Chelsea Rose, 2020 Graduating Class, John Jay College of Criminal Justice, CUNY

In New York City, after having received [the] Associate of Arts in Business Administration [at BMCC}, I... earned a Bachelor of Science in Mathematics at City College, while [teaching] as an adjunct professor of mathematics at CUNY. It is thanks to the Belle Zeller Scholarship that I have managed to achieve my goal of obtaining a math diploma, alongside with providing for a happy household and best schools for my only son... in 2016, my son and I returned to my beloved homeland, Poland, where I have also managed to continue the social work, initiative, dedication, and commitment that Belle Zeller taught us with her life... I have founded a local association, the Mickiewicza Street Initiative, and…we have managed to restore, renovate and revitalize the entire neighborhood of my home which is 200 years old!!! I have many reasons to be grateful to the Belle Zeller Scholarship Trust Fund ---Wioleta Jaworska, Bachelor of Science in Mathematics, City College, CUNY