An Update on MMPCIA’s 2010 College Scholarship Award Winner, Chelsea Hardy.
Chelsea Hardy
Chelsea Hardy, the winner of MMPCIA’s 2010 College Scholarship Award, just completed her freshman year at Hampton University, in Hampton, Virginia, and is tentatively planning a career in fashion marketing.
Hampton University is “like a small community,” Hardy said. “It has a lot of old traditions. And the new friends that I made this year are (like) my extended family already.” She also praises the “teacher-student connection,” saying that it is easy to talk with instructors when she has a problem, or needs clarification on an assignment.
Hardy, a Harlem resident and 2010 graduate of Manhattan Village Academy on West 22nd Street in Manhattan, has a summer 2011 internship at JOOR, a private network allowing designers to show their collections online and interact with buyers around the clock. “I’m happy I got it,” she said of the internship. “I’ll see if it (fashion marketing) is really what I want to do.”
If the answer to that question turns out to be yes, Hardy plans to earn an MBA, preferably from Columbia University, after graduating from Hampton. She also would like to take more classes at the Fashion Institute of Technology, where she began taking courses in sewing, drawing and fashion design as early as the 6th grade. “I’ve always loved fashion,” she said.
Her passion for fashion has not kept Hardy from excelling in a broad number of subjects. In recommending her for college, Hector Geager, the principal of Manhattan Village Academy, described her as “a hardworking, creative and determined student” who “truly enjoyed the puzzle-like nature of mathematics.” Frances C. Bittman, Chelsea’s 11th grade advisor and teacher, called her an “avid reader” who also possesses a “flair for acting,” and praised her “confidence, intelligence, and determination.”
While at Manhattan Village, Hardy made Honor Roll every year. She also demonstrated a concern for others, working as a volunteer at Abyssinian Daycare Center. For her college essay, she created “The Harlem Adolescent Health and Wellness Page” a networking site she said was “specifically to communicate to Harlem youth the importance of healthy eating.” Hardy said she felt obligated to do the project after she read statistics regarding adolescent obesity in New York City.
Because of the challenging nature of her coursework at Hampton University, Hardy held off on becoming involved in many outside activities during freshman year. “I’ve tried to focus on my subjects”, she said. “You have to manage your time well, or you can get stuck with a whole lot of stuff to do, with very little time. I’m still working on that.”
So, what advice might this confident, organized, talented, empathetic, and academically successful winner of the MMPCIA 2010 College Scholarship Award have for other young people in Harlem? “Hang with the right people and follow yourself, don’t follow the road others are going down,” Hardy said. “The biggest thing to do is believe in yourself, because if you can believe in yourself, you can get others to believe in you.”
Chelsea with 2010 Education Committee: Kay Logan, Natasha Reid, (Chelsea's mother, Michelle Hardy) and Patricia Pates Eaton
The MMPCIA $4,000 Scholarship Award began in 2009 as a way of honoring college-bound Harlem high school seniors who live in Greater Mount Morris Park/Central Harlem Community from 110th to 135th Streets between Morningside and Park Avenues.
Beginning each February, the MMPCIA Scholarship Committee reaches out to area high school teachers, guidance counselors, parents and students. The completed applications are reviewed by a neutral group of judges and one winner will be selected each year. The recipient’s award will be disbursed in the amount of $1,000 each year and renewable for up to three additional years as long as the student continues as a full time student in good standing.
Posted By: Marta Fernandez
Thursday, August 4th 2011 at 3:44PM
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