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Eight students from Georgia State University’s Perimeter College have been named semifinalists for the 2024 Jack Kent Cooke Undergraduate Transfer Scholarship. The Jack Kent Cooke award is a competitive scholarship for the nation’s top two-year college students. It provides recipients with up to $55,000 per year, placing the scholarship among the largest private awards in the country for community college transfer students. The semifinalists, all Perimeter Honors College students working toward their associate degrees, are among 459 individuals selected from more than 1,600 applicants attending 194 community colleges in 37 states, plus Washington, DC, and the Northern Mariana Islands The following is one of the student profiles.
CLARKSTON, Ga.—Kulsum Saber has come into her own at Perimeter College.
Saber spent part of her childhood moving around with her family—from the United Arab Emirates to India and then to the United States. She lived in New York for a while before finally landing in Clarkston, where she has thrived.
Having moved around so much, Saber said she finally found a sense of home at Perimeter College, where she began her studies in the fall of 2022. She quickly distinguished herself by becoming a leader in several organizations and clubs, all while maintaining a positive attitude and strong academic performance. Her main motivation has been to provide a better life for her family.
Now, she has been named a semifinalist for the 2024 Jack Kent Cooke Undergraduate Transfer Scholarship, one of the nation’s top scholarships for promising two-year college students.
As a Regents Engineering Pathway (REP) Honors student, she is making the most of the opportunities at Perimeter. She currently serves as President of the Chemistry Club and holds leadership roles as Vice President of the Women in STEM Experience (WiSE) club, and Treasurer of the Clarkston Computing Science and Engineering Club (CLACEC). Additionally, she works as a MESA (Math, Engineering, Science Achievement) tutor and an Supplemental Instruction Leader for Calculus I, helping other STEM students.
As Chemistry Club president, she successfully organized two rounds of blood drives on campus this semester in collaboration with the Red Cross, earning her club the Royal Flame Award for "Outstanding Community Service Program" from Georgia State University.
She has been able to express her artistic side at the college as well, with her acrylic painting “Autumn’s Hold” featured in the 2024 issue of the Perimeter College student magazine called "Creative License."
Saber is deeply passionate about the environment and aspires to be a civil engineer focusing on advancing environmental sustainability. She also has a strong desire to initiate several philanthropic efforts aimed at helping developing countries, having lived in one and witnessed the lack of basic amenities.
She envisions starting a company in the future.
"My entrepreneurial vision is a global sustainability hub for green initiatives, with smart infrastructure and transportation design," she explained.
"I want to incorporate renewable energy and water management solutions and so much more. I want to leave a tangible and lasting impact on communities and bring practical solutions to the current environmental challenges."
This past fall, she was one of 13 female engineering students who attended the Society of Women Engineers conference in Los Angeles. She described the experience as inspirational and noted that it fueled her passion for entrepreneurship in engineering.
"Witnessing highly distinguished diverse women engineers making significant contributions to society and being recognized for their work ... filled me with hope for my future in this industry," she said
She was offered several summer internships during the conference and will be interning at Jacobs Engineering in Atlanta.
Saber also was recently part of a team presenting their research on erosion and deposition in porous media during the Georgia State Undergraduate Research Conference (GSURC). She also presented her research at the Georgia Scientific Computing Symposium (GSCS) at Emory University.
Saber hopes to attend the civil engineering program at Georgia Tech.
“Winning the JKC scholarship would make a world of a difference, as without it, I may not be able to continue my education,” she said.
The Cooke Foundation will announce the winners this month.
Story by Rebecca Rakoczy
Photo by Bill Roa