RCC student wins semifinalist spot for top scholarship

Few would call Rockland Community College student Jonathon Galdamez-Paguay your average 19-year-old. On Thursday, March 14, the first-generation high school graduate and first of his family to attend college was selected as a semifinalist for the Jack Kent Cooke Foundation’s Undergraduate Transfer Scholarship—one of the most prestigious scholarships for students transferring into a four-year university in the United States.

Raised in Spring Valley by a single mother, Galdamez-Paguay struggled early on in his academic career. Due to his mother only speaking Spanish, he quickly fell behind in his studies at Monsey’s Kakiat STEAM Academy, particularly in English class. When his mother moved him to Felix Festa Middle School in the seventh grade, Galdamez-Paguay was still testing in most of his subjects at the elementary-school level. There, teachers pushed him to work hard, leading the young man to ultimately catch up with his classmates.

Though the taste of academic success was a feeling Galdamez-Paguay chased into his time at Clarkstown South High School, a lack of clarity and adequate explanation surrounding the college application process dissuaded him from applying to any four-year universities. However, when he told teachers and family members that he was considering attending community college, the response was overwhelmingly negative.

“When I told (everyone) about going to community college, all of them told me not to do it,” Galdamez-Paguay recalled. “They were like, ‘Don’t do that, you’re not going to get a good education, you’re not going to make any connections’—just all these negative things…But that kind of made me want to prove them wrong in a sense. I wanted them to know that community college was a place that I could go and thrive.”

In his one-and-a-half years at Rockland Community College, Galdamez-Paguay has achieved a host of accomplishments, including joining and working for the Sam Draper Honors Program, using his status as a Business and Technology major to strengthen those departments, and growing his own web design business and nonprofit, as well as currently working with Mayor of Spring Valley Alan M. Simon to give back to his community.

After graduation, he plans to transfer to a four-year university to continue his goal of working in business—an endeavor that would be greatly helped by winning the Jack Kent Cooke Foundation’s Undergraduate Transfer Scholarship. As one of only 459 semifinalists out of a pool of 1,600 for the $55,000 per year award to complete a bachelor’s degree, Galdamez -Paguay is honored to be considered. He will be notified if he wins in late April to early May.

“If you go to community college, you can make great things happen,” Galdamez Paguay said. “I was told everything but that. (Winning) would mean a lot to me, my mom, and my family…I want to help as many people as I can.”