'RESILIENT STUDENTS' WIN ROTARY'S GROUNDBREAKING NEW SCHOLARSHIPS
There’s a very good chance that Analia Pilco works harder than you do.
Some days, Analia drives a passenger to JFK airport at 3 a.m., returns home, goes to her full-time job in New Haven by 8 a.m., puts in an 8-hour shift, and then…
“Then I travel to other my other job, which is from 4:30 to 8:30,” said the 34-year-old Branford resident. “Then I come home, I study for my classes, and I make lunch for the next day, just to do it all over again.”
She almost laughs when she explains this. She’s not complaining. They are just the facts of her life. And that determination, that drive, is why Branford Rotary is proud to name Analia as one of our 2024 ‘Resilient Scholars.’ New this year, Resilient Scholarships are awarded to adult “nontraditional” students from Branford who are age 26 and older and attend CT State College – Gateway, in New Haven. They are Gateway’s first-ever scholarships exclusively for nontraditional students, and Analia, who received $1,000, is one of the first recipients.
“When the financial person at Gateway called with the news, I dropped my phone,” Analia recalled. “I was so happy. I never got anything from anybody before.”
Across the country, there are millions of motivated, older students like Analia who have jobs, and often young families, but rarely get support. Unlike many high school seniors, these nontraditional students pay their own way to enroll in universities, community colleges, or technical programs where they look to earn certificates in fields like electronics, automotive repair, or water management. By introducing Resilient Scholarships, where Branford Rotary gives $5,000 a year to five Gateway students, the Club hopes to change that.
A native of Ecuador who became a U.S. citizen three years ago, Analia moved with her parents and sister to Connecticut in 2009, during the financial crisis. She lived in a house with 10 family members – with aunts, uncles, cousins – and always worked. But she also dreamed of going to college. She enrolled at Gateway in 2022, and now takes three classes a semester: two at Gateway, and one at Charter Oak College in New Britain, where she is pursuing a B.A. in business.
“For us older students, we’re trying to fit in a class between our crazy schedules, or with our families, and trying to find time in between jobs for two or three hours of school. We have food, rent, textbooks are so expensive…” Analia stopped, then fought back tears. “I’m sorry, but people don’t understand. The fact that I was able to get this scholarship that will help me, even to buy books, you have no idea what it means.”
“I’m so glad we’re able to support students like Analia, hard-working people who are so deserving,” said Branford Rotary President Ellen Carucci. “The Resilient Scholarship program is one of the best things Branford Rotary has ever done.”
Analia doesn’t disagree.
“The name ‘Resilient’ is the perfect description of all of us trying striving for a better future,” she said.
Analia said she eventually plans to get her degree and go into accounting. Until then, it’s work, work, work, classes, repeat. When does she sleep?
“On Sundays,” she said with a smile. “Or I can sleep when I’m dead!”
Then she mimed laying in a coffin and holding something to her chest. “But I’ll be holding my diploma!”
Her first day was frightening.
“It was so scary because I see all these young kids, and they’re all teenagers, and I’m 45!” recalled Branford’s Ilkay Ozdemir Sen, of her first day at community college two years ago. “I’m thinking, ‘Most of my teachers are the same age as me. It’s embarrassing.’”
“But then,” she added, “I had to do it. I had to do it for my kids.”
Now enrolled at CT State College – Gateway, in New Haven, Ilkay is one of the first recipients of Branford Rotary’s new “Resilient Scholarships,” awarded to working adults age 26 and above who are going back to college, or going for the first time, to get a degree or a technical certificate.
For Ilkay, enrolling at Gateway was a first. The mother of two had never been to college before. Growing up in Turkey, she attended a technical high school, but education beyond that was expensive. When her family moved to America, to Minnesota, she didn’t have the English, or the money, for higher education.
“When you go to a new country, you have to be able to support yourself,” she said. “So there was no school. I had to work. A lot.”
Eventually she moved to Connecticut, married her husband Serkan, became a U.S. citizen, and had children - a boy and girl, now eight and 10. And she continued to work. Between parenthood, her job with the postal service, and the cost of living, college still wasn’t on the horizon. But it was on her mind.
“I’ve been telling my kids they need to make sure their grades are great so they can get go to college and get scholarships,” she said. “But I had to have a Plan B. I had to make sure that even if they don’t have scholarships, they can still go to college and I would be able to financially support them.
What finally inspired her decision? Piano lessons.
Her son Arda and daughter Ayza were taking piano, but Ayza also wanted to do gymnastics. It was all too expensive. Ilkay told them they had to choose.
“It was breaking my heart to tell them that they had to pick one,” Ilkay said. “So I told myself, ‘I know it’s going to be hard, but I have to go to college.’”
She enrolled at Gateway in 2022, and is finishing her Associate’s Degree in cybersecurity. She takes classes after her shift at the post office, from 5 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. Her husband also works full-time. It makes for a difficult balance.
“It’s hard because there are days where I get off work, pick the kids up from the babysitter, but I have to study till midnight,” she said. “They’re kids. They want attention.”
Fortunately, her children have been understanding.
“At my daughter’s school, the students are encouraged to tell stories about their families. Ayza always mentions about me, how hard I work, and I’m really proud of that,” Ilkay said, then paused. “She makes me cry sometimes.”
Stories like Ilkay’s are why Branford Rotary launched Resilient Scholarships. There are thousands of older “nontraditional” students in Connecticut, and millions across America. While they are eligible for financial aid, the vast majority of scholarships in the United States are geared toward high school seniors, and most of those are for four-year universities, and not certificate programs in fields like electronics, automotive repair, and water management.
“We wanted to do something about that,” said Branford Rotary President Ellen Carucci. “These people have jobs. They pay their own way for housing, utilities, textbooks. They’re feeding their families, and they’re studying late into the night. In a word, they’re resilient, and we feel we have an obligation to support them.”
Specifically, Branford Rotary has committed to giving $5,000 per year to Gateway to divide among deserving adult students from Branford who are eligible for financial aid. It’s a program Rotary hopes spurs imitations.
“We all want to change lives, but this is a program that actually does,” added Andy Marlatt, Rotary’s Resilient Scholarship Chair. “We hope other organizations take a look at this and include adult students in their scholarship programs.
CT State – Gateway shares that vision.
“The Gateway Foundation is thrilled that Branford Rotary has recognized how great the need is, and how big an impact its scholarships will have,” said Gateway Foundation Chair Thomas Beirne III. “This is Gateway’s first scholarship program exclusively for nontraditional students, and we hope it’s the first of many as other communities come to realize what a difference these programs can make.”
What does it mean for Ilkay to be one of Rotary’s first Resilient Scholars?
“It’s incredible because it means I don’t have to worry if I’m going to be able to finish school,” she said. “I only have to worry about passing my classes, taking care of my family. If I don’t have the money, if I have to choose, then I’m going to put my kids first. I won’t be able to choose for myself.”
