Cornelian Scholarship

Jill J. '22

I wanted to go to school out of state. Realistically, I knew that I had to make the decision based on finances, not location. Being from Maine, I had many good options, including staying home and commuting to the local university. However, I still wanted an adventure. When I first visited Rosemont's campus, I knew that it was where I wanted to be. The beautiful buildings, the friendly people, and its proximity to the big city was everything that I was looking for. On that entire trip, I had to keep telling myself that I could not get my hopes up in case it did not work out financially.

When I learned about the Cornelian Scholarship, I knew that this was my only chance to attend my dream school. At the time it was only for graduates of a Catholic high school, and I had graduated from a public school after my Catholic high school had shut down the summer before my senior year. It was a long shot. I remember sitting on the couch in the Main Building waiting for my interview time. My hands were shaking and my mind racing. A month later when I learned I was a recipient, I couldn't have been happier. I try to live by the values of Cornelia Connelly, and after my four years of trying to uphold them, I am excited to go out and share with the rest of the world. 

Mia H. '26

Taking the Cornelian Scholarship was one of the best decisions I’ve made. I chose to be a Cornelian Scholar because it gave me the opportunity to continue to participate in the work that was important and meaningful to me throughout high school. I spent much of high school engaged in volunteer work in my community, and it was important to me that I was able to continue to prioritize this work as I entered college. I have made powerful connections and lasting relationships through my volunteer work, and I hoped that the Cornelian Scholarship would help me continue to build those relationships. This hope proved to be reality; Rosemont in itself is an incredibly supportive and tight-knit community, and the Cornelian Scholarship program is a close community within it. All of my fellow Cornelian Scholars have proved to be open-minded, kind people who have helped and supported me as I entered college, and have become my friends. It’s an amazing thing to be a part of a community that is so caring, and is composed of people who all care so deeply about the world around them, and take time out of their daily lives to try and make it a better place. Being a part of this Cornelian Scholar community has been truly invaluable to me. It has allowed make friends with people I otherwise might not have met and to engage in meaningful work both and off of campus; I have not only been given opportunity after opportunity to really make a difference in individuals lives and in the greater community, both of Rosemont and of the Philadelphia area, but I have been supported in attaining those opportunities and rewarded for the work that I’m doing. Because of all of this, I can’t recommend the Cornelian Scholarship enough.

 

Oyindamola A. '26

Picking a school was an extremely hard process for me. I knew that I wanted to major in Psychology which made my selection easier, but I didn't know much about tuition, loans, and most terms that come with becoming a college freshman. It wasn't until I found Rosemont that I could see myself at one school and also understand the terms I mentioned above. Rosemont College made it possible for my parents, who are immigrants, to understand the terms stated above and also made me feel like I belonged and deserved to be at Rosemont. The Cornelian Scholarship has impacted my life more than any person could imagine. Although my parents are hardworking people, they were struggling to figure out how they were going to pay for college. I have two younger siblings which made the cost of college a greater concern for my parents. Rosemont College’s giving me the Cornelian Scholarship allowed me to go to college without having to work two jobs. It also alleviated my parent's worry about paying for college.