BROOKLYN RESIDENT FROM HAITI, EMMANUEL COULANGES, NAMED PEARSON SCHOLAR AT BOROUGH OF MANHATTAN COMMUNITY COLLEGE
(New York, NY) Emmanuel Coulanges of Crown Heights has been named a Pearson scholar at Borough of Manhattan Community College. As a Pearson scholar, Coulanges, who is a respiratory therapy major receives a scholarship award for $1250 per semester, the cost for full-time, in-state tuition, for up to three semesters. He is also eligible to receive up to $500 for summer study.
Emmanuel Coulanges (center) with Will Ethridge (left), president of Pearson Education’s Higher Education Division, and Antonio Pérez (right), president of Borough of Manhattan Community College, at the Pearson Scholarship reception on May 13.
Coulanges, 30, is one of six Pearson scholars who were recognized at a special presentation on Monday, May 13 at BMCC. He received an award for his spring semester scholarship on Monday.
“The scholarship makes me feel good,” Coulanges said. “I have been in school all my life, and I have done well, but I never received any reward until now.”
Pearson Education gave BMCC $200,000 for scholarships for students in the health sciences. Pearson Education created the scholarship fund in memory of six BMCC students who were killed in the World Trade Center disaster and in honor of the medical rescue workers at Ground Zero. Pearson executives and some parents of the BMCC students who died in the World Trade Center attended the scholarship award reception on May 13.
To be eligible for the distinguished award, students must be enrolled in a degree program in nursing, respiratory therapy, health information technology, or paramedics. Borough of Manhattan Community College offers the only respiratory therapy and paramedic program in New York City. A BMCC scholarship committee selected students for the awards based on their academic achievement and an essay describing why they want to pursue a career in the health sciences.
Coulanges came to New York from Haiti in 1999. Interest in the health professions seems to run in the Coulanges family. One of his brothers is a respiratory therapist and a sister is a physician. “I want to go to medical school, so I decided to start with a two year degree,” said Coulanges. He expects to graduate from BMCC in June 2003.
In addition to studying full-time, Coulanges works as a tutor in the Learning Resource Center on the BMCC campus. He also works as a security guard in a Manhattan office building. In his spare time, Coulanges does community volunteer work with the sick and elderly through Hebron Church, where he also serves as a deacon.
