Pathways
“My family’s Puerto Rican, so it was a very strict household,” she says. “My mother had so much invested into me, and the one thing she asked in return was to see me walk at graduation.”
Contreras did graduate and entered Lehigh Carbon Community College near her hometown of Whitehall, Pa. A professor recommended that she apply for the highly competitive Bucknell Community College Scholars Program, where, after completing a six-week summer session, students may qualify for free tuition for their junior and senior years.
Contreras succeeded and will graduate with a degree in psychology. She also received a Beinecke Scholarship, which will fund her pursuit of a Ph.D. in social psychology.
She plans to research why some people of color, like her, escape the cycle of poverty while others do not.
“I want to find solutions that benefit everyone — not just specifically selected students who show promise,” she says. “I want to find more opportunities for people to make it out.”
photograph by emily paine
Pathways
“My family’s Puerto Rican, so it was a very strict household,” she says. “My mother had so much invested into me, and the one thing she asked in return was to see me walk at graduation.”
Contreras did graduate and entered Lehigh Carbon Community College near her hometown of Whitehall, Pa. A professor recommended that she apply for the highly competitive Bucknell Community College Scholars Program, where, after completing a six-week summer session, students may qualify for free tuition for their junior and senior years.
Contreras succeeded and will graduate with a degree in psychology. She also received a Beinecke Scholarship, which will fund her pursuit of a Ph.D. in social psychology.
She plans to research why some people of color, like her, escape the cycle of poverty while others do not.
“I want to find solutions that benefit everyone — not just specifically selected students who show promise,” she says. “I want to find more opportunities for people to make it out.”