Two NBHS Students Earn Four-Year College Scholarships
By Chris Seymour | Correspondent at June 2, 2024 | 7:30 pm | Print
It goes without saying that college expenses (and the many subsequent years of loan repayment) can be burdensome and expensive.
So when New Britain High School seniors Nooraldeen Abdulla and Karolina Osowiecka were recently accepted into the Travelers EDGE Scholarship Program at Central Connecticut State University, a huge weight was lifted off their shoulders.
That’s because the Travelers EDGE Scholarship is a financial award that covers up to four years of college tuition and fees; in other words, as Karolina put it, all of the hard work the pair of New Britain High School Academy of Finance students have put in over the years has helped them earn “a full ride.”
“It is just a tremendous honor to be awarded this and I am very grateful to all my teachers and mentors for providing me with this opportunity,” said Karolina, who is the daughter of Marianna Osowiecka.
Karolina will enter CCSU as an undeclared business major, though she is thinking about majoring in actuarial science; her second choice is accounting.
“It lifts a big burden off of me because I won’t have to worry about college expenses anymore,” said Nooraldeen, son of Jamal Abdulla and Aliah Shagiyah, .of earning the EDGE Scholarship. “I started working the past couple months so I can start saving but now it is all for me to enjoy.”
As for his career goals, Nooraldeen plans on majoring in accounting. “And I will try to get my CPA within four years and try to work for an accounting firm,” he added.
According to its website, Travelers EDGE (Empowering Dreams for Graduation and Employment), which was established in 2007, “provides a unique, holistic approach to education for underrepresented students. Through partnerships with colleges, universities and community-based organizations, Travelers EDGE increases access to higher education and provides students with opportunities to excel.”
The EDGE Scholarship also provides individualized support through mentoring, coaching and on-campus services; internship and job shadow opportunities; networking opportunities; and professional development.
To be eligible for the scholarship, local students needed to be enrolled in the NBHS Academy of Finance.
“Throughout the whole four years of high school both of us put in a lot of work,” explained Karolina. “I have taken numerous AP classes, just providing myself with a head start at college. I never would have known that I would be awarded basically a full ride to a great university like CCSU; I took all those AP classes in order to get those credits and in order to be ahead of the game.”
Karolina is also a high honors student ranked in the top 10 percent (No. 20) in the NBHS Class of 2016. Nooralden has received high honors and honors and is ranked in the top 20 percent of the Class of 2016.
“I have focused mostly on business classes in the academy,” he shared. “I am going to try to get an internship at Travelers or any other major institution and get more experience so that when I am done with college I can get a job as soon as I get out,” said Nooraldeen of his plans for the opportunities the EDGE Scholarship provides.
Karolina said she is looking forward to getting to Stanley Street and “finally deciding on my major because it is actually hard for me to.”
She does know that her major will be something business-related. “I know I want to go into business because business has always been something I have wanted to go into,” she continued. “I have had the opportunity here to explore all the business fields at the academy.”
In college, Karolina said she expects the experience to “be more individualized and will test my strength and my ability” but she (and Nooraldeen) certainly seem up for the challenge.
