CSUCI Business and Technology Partnership scholars come from diverse backgrounds

CSU Chanel Islands News

Camarillo, Calif., April 13, 2017 — The five CSU Channel Islands (CSUCI) students receiving scholarships at the Business & Technology Partnership (B&TP) Leadership dinner took different pathways to the University, but all have one thing in common: sincere gratitude for this gift.“This really lifts a huge weight off my shoulders,” said Nursing student Jennifer Mallon.   “I’m going to start crying just talking about it.”The students will be formally presented with their $6,500 scholarship during an April 20 dinner from 5:30 to 9 p.m. at the Westlake Village Inn at 31943 Agoura Road in Westlake Village.The scholars were chosen based on criteria such as financial need, a grade-point average of at least 3.5, and a major in either business or the sciences.Mallon already has her graduation photo planned. She intends to don her cap and gown, with her stethoscope, and stand next to a tower of her thick nursing textbooks.“My biggest textbook is my medical surgical nursing textbook,” she said. “It’s 10 pounds and over 2,000 pages.”When she’s not hitting the books in pursuit of her nursing degree, Mallon, 25, likes to engage in performance ice sculpture…with a chainsaw.“I realize it’s an unusual hobby, but it’s really fun,” she said.Alejandra Hernandez, 22, is pursuing a sweet dream. The Glendale native starts CSUCI in fall of 2017 as a junior in CSUCI’s Martin V. Smith School of Business & Economics with plans to enhance her home pastry business, The Sweet Cake Boutique.Like the four other recipients, Hernandez is a non-traditional student. After graduating from Le Cordon Bleu College of Culinary Arts in Pasadena as a certified pastry chef, she picked up classes at Los Angeles City College, then earned an Associate degree in business from Mount St. Mary’s University.“This scholarship definitely served as a motivation to keep working hard in school, keep on getting good grades, and keep ...

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