Page 6 - De Anza College Online Graduation Celebration Program 2021

A. Robert DeHart Scholarship
The $2,000 A. Robert DeHart and Rena Frabony DeHart Memorial Scholarship honors De Anza’s founding president and is awarded for service to the college community.
Enrique Samaguey
As a first-generation college student, Enrique Samaguey understands the challenges of navigating on unfamiliar ground. This year’s winner of the DeHart Scholarship plans to study education and psychology at the University of California, Berkeley, so he can eventually help other young people find their own way.
Enrique, 20, is graduating from De Anza with an associate degree in Liberal Arts and an associate degree for transfer in Psychology.
The older of two sons, Enrique often served as interpreter and guide for his parents, who are both immigrants, in dealings with school and other institutions. He said he’s motivated by their determination to make a better life for their sons, and by the
support he received from teachers and counselors in high school and college.
He found additional support at De Anza from his peers in the Puente Project learning community. After working with a Puente student mentor, Enrique has helped mentor other students in the program.
Enrique credits Puente instructor Lydia Hearn and Puente counselor Liliana Rivera with helping him transition from high school to college.
He was also a student staff member for HEFAS, which provides resources and support for undocumented students. Though he was born in the United States, Enrique said he identifies closely with the experience of family members who are undocumented.
Enrique also worked part-time off campus – most recently with a firm that provides COVID-19 testing for students at Stanford University. As the pandemic forced De Anza to move almost all classes online, Enrique said the experience felt isolating at times. But he was determined to finish his studies and said De Anza has been a welcoming place.
“Coming here was the best decision I could have made,” he said. “The support I’ve had from teachers and classmates has been incredible.”
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