HCTC student wins $500 scholarship

Raelena Wilson of Hazard Community and Technical College is one of three students from the Kentucky Community and Technical College System (KCTCS) to win a $500 scholarships just for logging on to a website to learn more about transferring to a four-year institution. KCTCS students from all 16 colleges across the state who filled out a student profile on CollegeFish.org from Oct. 1 to Nov. 15 automatically were entered into a drawing for the scholarships from CollegeFish.org.

Raelena Wilson noted, I am thrilled that my name was chosen for this scholarship. At first I was a little overwhelmed as to how much my tuition and books would cost. Thanks to College fish my worries are now over. I am so thankful and blessed to accept this scholarship!

The other two winners were Terrence Campbell of Ashland Community amp; Technical College and Jarrett Braden of Owensboro Community amp; Technical College.

Transfer education is a key component of our mission, and CollegeFish is an important partner in creating awareness among our students about the process, KCTCS President Dr. Michael B. McCall said. We appreciate their recognition of the financial need of our students and their sponsorship of these three scholarships.

CollegeFish.org provides access to information about more than 2000 regionally accredited transfer colleges and universities and more than $37 million in transfer scholarships. The free site offers easy to follow, step-by-step support for students and facilitates effective, efficient advising and transfer planning sessions, workshops, and lessons. CollegeFish.org is supported by Phi Theta Kappa, the International Honor Society of Community Colleges. HCTC Transfer Counselor Renee Back has done a fine job getting the word out to our students about this new transfer resource, stated Dr. Deronda Mobelini, University Center of the Mountains (UCM) Director. Renee has actively assisted students with registering for CollegeFish by visiting classrooms, scheduling registration workshops in the HCTC computer labs along with Cash4College workshops, and providing one-on-one assistance in the UCM CollegeFish Bowl computer lab. CollegeFish is a wonderful resource for our transfer bound students, but they need to know that it is available to them and how to access it, so the student services piece is important.

Because transferring is such an important issue to its students, KCTCS was the driving force behind transfer legislation in Kentucky, which has eased the process for students transferring to the state s four-year public institutions. That legislation has become a national model.