OCC Student Tala Alahmar Awarded Prestigious Community College Transfer Scholarship

Press release from Oakland Community College:

Tala Alahmar of Rochester Hills, a student at Oakland Community College, is one of
72 recipients of the national Jack Kent Cooke Foundation’s prestigious Undergraduate Transfer Scholarship. The highly selective national scholarship provides Alahmar with up to $40,000 a
year to complete her bachelor’s degree.

Tala Alahmar wins the prestigious national Cooke Undergraduate Transfer Scholarship.

The Cooke Undergraduate Transfer Scholarship is a highly selective scholarship for
the nation’s top community college students seeking to complete their bachelor’s degrees
at a four-year college or university. Alahmar was among more than 1,300 students from
398 community colleges who applied for the 2021 Cooke Undergraduate Transfer Scholarship. The Foundation evaluated each submission based on students’ academic ability and
achievement, financial need, persistence, leadership, and service to others.

“Tala is an incredibly gifted and dedicated student and one of the most active and
outstanding student leaders at OCC,” said Chancellor Peter Provenzano, Jr. “She is
truly an OCC shining star and she will continue to do amazing things in the future.”

Alahmar, originally from Syria, graduated from OCC this spring with an associate in
Arts degree. She plans to transfer to the University of Michigan to study International
Relations and work toward her goal to become an ambassador for the United Nations.

In addition to her studies, Alahmar held numerous leadership positions for the Phi
Theta Kappa (PTK) Honor Society while at OCC, and was recently elected to serve a
one-year term as the 2021 PTK international president. The role is the highest position
of student leadership within the organization which boasts more than 3.5 million members
in the United States and 10 sovereign nations. She is the first person from Michigan
to be elected in this position.

She was also elected president of the Michigan Region for PTK and has volunteered
as a field organizer for the Michigan Democratic Party. Her speech about evolving
from an introvert to someone who proudly uses her voice to share the value of diversity,
equity, and inclusion, earned a spot as one of four national finalists in the 2020
PTK Virtual Speech Competition.

Each Cooke Scholar has access to generous financial support for two to three years,
college planning support, ongoing advising, and the opportunity to connect with the
thriving community of fellow scholars. To date, over 1,000 students from all over
the country have received the Cooke Undergraduate Transfer Scholarship.

This press release was produced by Oakland Community College. The views expressed here are the author’s own.