News
Student Receives $30,000 Per Year Scholarship
Tuesday, May 2nd, 2006
Farah Nousheen, a 2005 graduate of North Seattle Community College, is one of 38 students in the country – and the only one from Washington -- to receive one of the largest and most competitive scholarships available to undergraduates in America.
Nousheen has received the Undergraduate Transfer Jack Kent Cooke Scholarship for students who are currently attending or have recently completed course work at two-year institutions. The award, which can total up to $30,000 a year for up to three years, is designed for students who are transferring to four-year colleges and universities and complete their bachelors’ degrees. Nousheen intends to attend the University of Washington, where she will pursue her goal of becoming a college professor.
Nousheen captured the hearts of her peers and instructors with her passion for enlightening the community on the life of Muslim women and her goal to create a space for community dialogue.
Although she had no experience making videos, she decided to do one on Muslim women, after 9/11. Nousheen observed that the West knew little about Muslims and those filling in the gaps were mostly male professors or politicians, with “an occasional background shot of Muslim women in masses, with their heads covered and/or in long black flowing robes.” She wanted to hear from the women. Ultimately, she produced a 55-minute documentary, Nazrah, A Muslim Woman’s Perspective, which has been shown in film festivals, on TV and at universities around the world.
Nousheen is a native of Hyderabad, India, who immigrated to Chicago with her family soon after she was born. She finished high school but was diverted from attending college due to socioeconomic and familial stresses. And after the sudden death of her father, college was even more out of reach. For several years, she worked in the software industry as a mainstay of support for her mother and siblings. She eventually moved the family to Seattle and, when the dot-com crash ended her job, she found full scholarships to college. She also stepped up her activism in the South Asian community, co-founding Tasveer, a grass roots group that brings South Asian independent films to Seattle and produces the annual five-day Independent South Asian Film Festival every fall.
The Undergraduate Transfer scholarship recipients come from 17 states and eight foreign nations, including Belarus, Vietnam, Ecuador, Jamaica, Palestine, Bhutan, Romania and China. They were selected from among 676 nominees from approximately 438 community or two-year colleges nationwide.
The scholars were selected by the foundation with assistance from a national panel of experts. Selection criteria include academic excellence, financial need, will to succeed, leadership ability, service to others, and interest in or appreciation for the arts. The scholars were selected by the foundation with assistance from a national panel of experts. Selection criteria include academic excellence, financial need, will to succeed, leadership ability, service to others, and interest in or appreciation for the arts.
“The Jack Kent Cooke Foundation was founded to support high achieving students with financial need,” said Matthew J. Quinn, the foundation’s executive director. “We hope these scholarships will allow the students the opportunity to fulfill their educational goals and become the individuals they aspire to be.”
“The transfer scholarship programs provided by the Jack Kent Cooke Foundation continue to set the bar, both for their generosity and their impact. The scholarships not only allow promising community college students to pursue their academic dreams without financial barriers, but they also make a statement about the tremendous pool of talent transfer students from two-year institutions represent,” said Dr. George R. Boggs, president and CEO of the American Association of Community Colleges (AACC).
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