Adam Ulissey is Creating a Sustainable Design for his Future as an Environmental Engineer

Adam Ulissey

DCCCD STEM Institute Scholar, El Centro College

Adam Ulissey is creating a sustainable design for his future, one where he can make a difference in the world as an environmental engineer.

“I want to work in sustainable design – my dream career would be biomimicry design of buildings,” he says. (Based on the Greek words for “imitating life,” biomimicry is the science of biologically-inspired engineering, using examples from nature to solve human design issues.)

Through the STEM Institute, Adam has benefited from personal advisement by Dr. Kendra Wallis, a STEM Citi Faculty Fellow and physics professor at Eastfield College. “Having a personal mentor is like having a friend who’s always willing to do something for you,” he says. “It’s been good to be able to ask direct questions to someone who knows what’s going on in the field, and to have help with the transfer process to a four-year university.”
Since last summer, he’s also had a paid internship at Ft. Worth’s Botanical Research Institute of Texas (BRIT), where he works with its living rooftop, constructed to mimic a naturally thriving ecosystem. “My project has been

surveying insects on the rooftop habitat, and helping analyze data to compare it to their original ecosystem,” he says, already exhibiting the excitement of a research scientist towards his work. “Having an internship has been great. I want to get real experience in my field every step of the way.”
The next step in his educational path: earning a bachelor’s degree for a future career that he hopes will include biomimicry design, creating energy-efficient homes and appliances, and championing recycling. He was recently accepted to Colorado State University, which offers a nationally renowned environmental sciences program

Former El Centro College Student Julius Ejiofor Studied Biochemistry and Vocational Nursing

Julius Ejiofor

Former Erin Tierney Kramp Scholar
El Centro College Nursing Graduate

In the thousands of miles that Julius Ejiofor has come since leaving his native Cameroon, one 10-mile trek stands out. That’s the distance he walked every day to school in the underdeveloped central African nation, where he first decided to become a doctor. “I did well in science, and became interested in becoming a doctor at an early age,” says the 26-year-old. “Our town didn’t have a hospital. People who were sick had to travel a half-day to get to one.”

In 2003, he emigrated to the U.S. at the age of 17 and began classes at El Centro College. When his father died the next year, he had to go to work to meet expenses, but it was hard supporting himself and paying tuition. Then he received an Erin Tierney Kramp Encouragement Scholarship, created in 1998 in honor of the late venture capitalist whose heroic battle with breast cancer became a staple for this award.

The Kramp Scholarship

Erin’s friend and DCCCD Foundation board member, Michael Brown, formed this scholarship to honor her legacy and to recognize those students who have exhibited courage and perseverance in the face of adversity.

“Erin wanted to recognize and encourage those individuals like Julius who have faced personal struggles to pursue higher education which without this type of financial help and mentorship would have not been possible,” says Brown, president of the Erin Tierney Kramp Encouragement Foundation. “The DCCCD was the perfect place to realize that vision and has been a great partner to the ETK Encouragement Foundation since its initial formation.”

“It sounds like a cliché, but receiving that scholarship was a life-changing moment for me,” says Julius. “And it wasn’t just about the money; there were programs for developing all kinds of life skills. It was just so great to have the support.”

In addition to his regular course load as a biochemistry major at El Centro, he took vocational nursing courses, passed the boards and became a licensed vocational nurse at the age of 19.

On the Road to Harvard

After graduating from El Centro, Julius transferred to Southern Methodist University and earned a bachelor’s degree in biochemistry. Julius next enrolled at UT Southwestern Medical Center, where he excelled in his studies and graduated near the top of his class.

DCCCD Foundation board member Ruben Esquivel ensured Julius’ success at UT Southwestern by helping him receive scholarship money and special stipends to allow him to continue his studies there. He also was responsible for getting UT Southwestern to pay for Julius medical licensing exam.

Just recently, Julius was accepted into the surgical residency program at the prestigious Brigham & Women's Hospital, a teaching affiliate of Harvard Medical School in Boston. The PMC Esping Foundation, created by Dallas' Bill and Heather Esping for underserved and low-income students, has provided him scholarship grants totaling $55,000 over the past 6 years. The Esping Foundation is also a major contributor of the DCCCD Foundation’s Rising Star scholarship program.

"As each year progressed, we found ourselves more and more impressed with this young man, with his goals, his potential for success, his plans for the future and commitment to giving back to the community," says Heather Esping." "We feel privileged to know Julius and to have been a part of his tremendous success."

It All Began Here

Julius’ part-time work as an LVN, along with the scholarships grants from the PMC Esping Foundation, allowed him to complete his undergraduate studies without student loans, for which he is not eligible as a foreign student. But he also sees his community college beginnings as the start of this incredible educational and career journey.

“Without the DCCCD Foundation, there is no question I would not have made it this far,” says Julius, who plans to study general surgery during his 5 to 7 year residency and seek a fellowship in either cardiac or vascular surgery.

Norma Urbina, RN and Adriana Urbina, RN Former El Centro College Rising Star Scholars

Norma Urbina, RN

and 

Adriana Urbina, RN

Former Rising Star Scholars
Health Professions Alumni, El Centro College

For more than a decade, sisters Norma and Adriana Urbina have been doing most things together – and they wouldn’t have it any other way.

Though Norma is older by two years, she ended up in the same grade as Adriana when all of her high school credits didn’t transfer after the family moved from Durango, Mexico, to the U.S. Since their junior year in high school, the two sisters have been side by side in their education and careers.

The two graduated from high school together, were both named Rising Star scholars and graduated together from El Centro’s Associate Degree Nursing program in December 2004. Both earned bachelor’s degrees in nursing at the University of Texas at Arlington and are still continuing their education.

Adriana is earning a nurse practitioner graduate degree at UTA. Norma plans to start her graduate studies there towards a master's degree in nursing with an emphasis in certified registered nurse anesthesist (CRNA). Today both work as nurses at Methodist Dallas Medical Center – Norma as a surgical nurse and Adriana as an oncology nurse.

“My Rising Star scholarship was a great opportunity and I took full advantage of it,” says Adriana. “Community college provided a foundation for me to begin higher education, and I’ve been going forward ever since.”

Adds Norma, “Getting a scholarship was important to me and my sister. We were the first ones in our family to graduate from high school, and our family just didn’t have the funds to send us to college.
“My nursing work is a little different from most in that my direct care starts when a patient comes into surgery,” says Norma. “It’s stressful and they’re afraid, and I love that I can give them some comfort in a difficult situation and make them feel a little more at ease. It’s different work every day and I love that.”

“What I love about nursing is helping others,” says Adriana. “I work with cancer patients who might not have much going for them, and even a simple ‘thank you’ from them can make my day. It brings a smile to my face.”

Ahmed Rashad Elhelw

“I never dreamt that I would ever be able to come to the U.S. to attend college.”

 AHMED ELHELW

Just ask Ahmed Rashad Elhelw. America really is the land of opportunity. Growing up in Egypt, he came to the U.S. in part to fulfill his father’s dream that he earn an engineering degree in the states. When his father died barely a month after his arrival, so did Ahmed’s financial means to fund a university education.

“Financial difficulties with my family meant that I couldn’t start a university engineering program,” Ahmed says. “I also realized my English wasn’t good enough.” He decided to stay in Dallas after finding out that Brookhaven College offered a Geographic Information Systems (GIS) program and English as a Second Language.

Ahmed took two semesters of English language classes before beginning the GIS program at Brookhaven, where he received a DCCCD Foundation Muse scholarship. “Getting the Muse scholarship has meant a lot to me,” he says. “I was very concerned about being able to provide tuition for myself.”

Now fluent in English, he dreams of earning bachelor’s and master’s degrees in engineering after he completes his associate degree. His career goal is to become a petroleum engineer and return to Egypt.

For now, he lives with an American family, is active in student government, and works part-time in the college’s Student Life Center. He also serves as a student representative on the DCCCD Foundation board of directors.

“I never dreamt that I would ever be able to come to the U.S. to attend college,” he says. “I always had a dream to study engineering. “
I most appreciate that in this country, you are rewarded when you work hard,” he says. “I studied hard and was able to earn a scholarship. There’s just more opportunity in the U.S. for higher education.”

Colby Purcell a Music Teacher to Aerospace Engineer?

“You should be able to work at something you love, and when you get opportunities – take them and run.”

COLBY PURCELL Muse and DCCCD STEM Institute Scholar Eastfield College

Music teacher to aerospace engineer? Colby Purcell believes it’s well within reach. 

This mother of four has already been encouraged in her career change with the Muse scholarship and the STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) student support award. “I always loved both music and math,” Colby says. “In high school, I studied piano – but also physics and advanced math. I made the choice to go into music, because I wanted to have a family and stay home with my children when they were little.”

Colby earned a bachelor’s degree in music, married and had a family – four children now ages 4 to 14. She has served as music coordinator for a group of church congregations, as well as volunteer accompanist for numerous choirs and school groups. “I had always wanted to be an engineer,” Colby says, “and one day my husband, who’s also an engineer, said, ‘Why don’t you just go for it?’” And she did. A 2011-2012 Muse scholar, she has also been a DCCCD STEM Insitute scholar for the last two years.

Last spring, she participated in the NASA Community College Aerospace Scholars program at Johnson Space Center in Houston. After she earns an associate degree in engineering at Eastfield College, she plans to continue her engineering education, with her dream career to become an aerospace engineer. “With my scholarships, of course the tuition money helps with four kids,” she says. “But what I like most are the opportunities I’ve gotten. You should be able to work at something you love, and when you get opportunities – take them and run.”

She is also sure she can apply the leadership skills she’s learned as a mother and music teacher to whatever comes next. “One of the great virtues of a leader is the ability to listen to others,” she says. “The greatest thing that I have learned is that a true leader serves the people that he or she leads.”