“I always knew I wanted to make something of myself,” says Joseph Gonzalez. However, he was acutely aware of the hurdles ahead of him. With very little education, his parents made a living by driving for a cab company. They didn’t have enough combined income to own a family car. He grew up in a basement apartment and tried to help the family by working various jobs, including washing dishes and collecting shopping carts before joining the U.S. Marine Corps. He left the Corps in 2008, just as the great recession settled in across the country. As a result, finding a job that matched his worth was nearly impossible. So, he re-enlisted, but this time in the US Army. After retiring with a combat-related injury, he turned to SUNY Suffolk and was awarded a Get There From Here Scholarship to help support his educational journey. He hopes to become a history professor and the scholarship support that he is receiving is making it possible. “In a world of uncertainty, this is stability. I can go home at night and focus on my future and a better day because of the Get There From Here Scholarship. It’s helping me cross the finish line.” Joseph currently has a 4.0 GPA as he continues to leave any hurdle he encounters in his wake.

Loye is a SUNY Suffolk nursing student with a passion for helping people. “I just love how the human body works…and Suffolk is really preparing me for a career in nursing,” she says. As a recipient of the paid NY Cancer & Blood Specialists Fellowship, she has been able to enhance her learning by working side-by-side with world-class healthcare professionals. Loye pays for her tuition out-of-pocket, and she juggles many responsibilities. As she puts it, “I have a full-time college schedule, a full-time husband, a full-time job, a full-time car payment, and a full-time mortgage.” Because the fellowship included a stipend, Loye was able to shift attention away from her pressing immediate financial obligations in order to concentrate her time on addressing the rigor of her studies.

Hannah hails from Jamesport and has always dreamed about traveling and exploring new cultures. Her Honors scholarship has allowed her to pay her tuition and shift her savings toward travelling to Costa Rica to teach English to children. “I’m excited to go out and see the world,” she says. “My Suffolk experience will enable me to educate people about things that affect both my life and theirs.”