Congratulations to Two Cerritos College Academic Award Winners!
Academic Achievement Awards Presented
La Palma-Cerritos AAUW May Meeting
The Skyline Room of the Cerritos Library was festively decorated with balloons and flowers for the 30th Annual Recognition of the Academic Achievement Awards Program hosted by the La Palma-Cerritos Branch of the American Association of University Women (AAUW) on Wednesday, May 17, 2023.
Joan Pylman, Chair of the Academic Achievement Awards Committee, said that La Palma-Cerritos AAUW Branch has been honoring women students at Cerritos College for 30 years by recognizing their academic achievement and service to the school and community with Certificates of Recognition and Academic Achievement Awards. Cerritos College staff members and the Cerritos College Foundation provide qualified candidates’ applications for the Academic Achievement Awards Committee (AAA) to screen for the award. The La Palma-Cerritos AAUW Branch provides the funds for the scholarships that will encourage the recipients to complete their education at a four-year university.
Representatives of Cerritos College came to the meeting to celebrate with and honor the women who were selected to receive the AAA scholarships. They included Dr. Shin Liu, President of Cerritos College Board of Trustees; Dawn Trickett, Cerritos College Professor of Communications; Martha Pelayo, Executive Director of the Cerritos Foundation; Erin Miles, Director of Diversity, Compliance, and Title IX; and Andrea Wittig, Executive Assistant to the President/Superintendent of Cerritos College.
Chair Pylman, and her committee chose two outstanding students to receive this year’s awards. The students were selected because of their academic achievement with a 3.5 GPA or better, and their active participation in service activities and leadership position at Cerritos College or in the community. One of the students selected was a “Re-entry” student, meaning that she has not been in school for four or more years and is 25 years or older. The other student is a “Transfer” student meaning that she has continued her education since graduation from High school. By chance, both students who were selected this year are immigrants.
Sofia Heejae Chun and Leidy Barrios are the two women the committee selected this year.
La Palma-Cerritos Branch member Tobi Balma introduced Sofia Heejae Chun. Sofia was born in South Korea in 2002, but she made many moves and lived in different countries with her family over the years. She moved from South Korea to Jarkarta in Indonesia, Manila in the Phillippines, Ho Chi Minh City in Vietnam, and finally, immigrated to Cerritos, CA, in 2019. She learned English in the Phillippines, Spanish in Vietnam. She graduated from Cerritos High School in 2021 and enrolled in Cerritos College.
While at Cerritos College, Sofia had a 4.0 GPA while majoring in Theater Arts. She was active in several clubs at Cerritos College and was President of the Helping Hands Project Club. She was also Secretary of the Cerritos College Artists Club and learned American Sign Language. She has been accepted at five universities so far. When she decides which university she will attend, she plans to work for a double major in Theater Arts and Pre-Med. She wants to be an advocate for first-generation immigrants to achieve higher education.
Cerritos College Professor of Communications Dawn Trickett nominated and introduced Leidy Barrios as a the “Re-entry” student. Leidy was born and raised in Guatemala City. She has been married to her husband, Johnny Gomez for 22 years and they have two sons. In 1997, she immigrated with her family to the United States when her birth mother, Maria del Carmen, invited her to come to live in the United States. Her mother had moved to the United States in 1988 and invited Leidy to come legally to the United States after she had her green card. Leidy said she wanted to thank her mother for making it possible to have a better life in the United States.
When Leidy first came to the U.S., she learned English as a Second Language at La Mirada Adult School and completed classes there to graduate with a High School Diploma. She took classes at UCLA and received a Certificate in Early Childhood Education in 1915. Leidy worked as a teacher assistant and worked hard in her studies at Cerritos College to maintain a 3.8 GPA. She is the first in her family to receive an Associate of Arts degree in Early Childhood Education. She hopes to work for a B.A. in Child Development at Cal State Dominguez Hills and become a teacher in the future.
After the award winners finished speaking, Academic Achievement Awards and Certificates of Recognition were presented by representatives of the County of Los Angeles, the State of California, and the La Palma-Cerritos Branch of the AAUW. Sofia and Leidy received Certificates of Recognition for their Academic Achievement from the following representatives: Los Angeles County Supervisor Janice Han, California Assemblymember Sharon Quirk-Silva, State Senator Janet Nguyen, State Senator Bob Archuleta, and Congresswoman Michele Steele. Assemblymember Quirk-Silva’s Field Representative Joe Pak, and Senator Nguyen’s District Representative Michelle Do, came in person to present their certificates.
The La Palma-Cerritos AAUW’s Academic Achievement Awards were presented to Sofia Heejae Chun and Leidy Barrios by Chair Joan Pylman and Awards Committee member Gail Ross. Sofia and Leidy each received Certificates of Recognition from the La Palma-Cerritos AAUW signed by President Celia Spitzer. They will receive a scholarship of $1,375 each when they confirm their enrollment at the four-year college or university where they have been accepted in the Fall of 2023. Joan and Gail congratulated both award winners and presented Sofia and Leidy with a beautiful bouquet of flowers at the end of the Awards Program.
Pictures and article by Edna Ethington
Pictured at the La Palma-Cerritos AAUW Academic Recognition and Awards Program on May 17, 2023, are, left to right, are Cerritos College Board of Trustees President Dr. Shin Liu, Cerritos College Professor of Communications Dawn Trickett, Cerritos College Director of Diversity, Compliance, and Title IX Erin Miles, Academic Awards Chair Joan Pylman, Award winners Sofia Heejae Chun and Leidy Barrios, Awards Selection Committee Member Gail Ross, Cerritos College Foundation Executive Director Martha Pellayo, and Cerritos College Executive Assistant to the President/Superintendent Andrea Wittig.