When I received the Jack Kent Cooke Foundation (JKCF) College Scholarship, I was excited and incredibly grateful. I knew it would help make college financially possible, but I didn’t fully realize how much it would shape my experience at Yale—not just through resources, but through community. From the start, I noticed how many students at Yale were recipients of outside scholarships. Some were fellow JKCF scholars. Others had received the Gates Scholarship, the Coca-Cola Scholarship, or other national awards. Knowing that there were so many of us here, from all different backgrounds, made the campus feel more familiar. I always felt an instant connection when I learned someone else had earned a scholarship like mine. We didn’t always talk about it openly, but there was a quiet understanding between us.
Throughout my time at Yale, the JKCF community has been a steady presence. The Foundation often organized paid dinners (we went to Mecha Noodle Bar once as shown in the cover photo selfie!), which became a place to catch up and connect with other scholars. Sometimes, my academic advisor from the Foundation would visit campus, and we’d meet to talk about how I was doing. Those check-ins gave me a sense of continuity, a reminder that I was part of something bigger than just myself and my classes. We met virtually regularly, but the in-person visits remain unmatched.
One of my friendships with another scholarship recipient I made began even before Yale. I had attended a fly-in program at another university, and my roommate during the visit turned out to be a fellow JKCF scholar. We stayed in touch, and when we both decided on Yale, that shared experience became the foundation of a deeper connection. Knowing someone before arriving made those first few months of college much easier. Later on, a Yale friend of mine hosted a prospective student during Bulldog Days. We all spent time together that weekend, and I got to know her well. She eventually committed to Yale, and I was thrilled to learn she, too, was a JKCF scholar. It was one of those full-circle moments.
For many students, especially those from underrepresented backgrounds, applying to college means also having to search for outside scholarships, filling out extra applications, and hoping to be one of the few selected. It’s a process that takes resilience, time, and often, a lot of uncertainty. That’s why I’ve admire the work students and the cultural houses at Yale have done to build community and increase access. A fly-in program called Yale MOHtion runs with the support of all the cultural centers. They make it possible for high school students to visit campus, meet people with similar experiences, and picture themselves here. That kind of peer-driven effort has created spaces where students feel seen and supported long before they even move in. JKCF also gave me this community.
College is expensive. That’s a reality a lot of us carry with us. But the support from scholarships—and more importantly, from the people who’ve received them—has helped lighten that weight. I never felt like I was navigating Yale completely on my own. Whether it was a dinner with fellow scholars or a passing conversation with someone who just got it, this network has become one of the most grounding parts of my experience. If you’re considering Yale and wondering if there’s a place for someone like you, I hope you know that there is. And more often than not, there are people already here who’ve walked a path a lot like yours—and are ready to welcome you when you arrive.
If you made it this far, you should take a look at the JKCF’s Instagram post that captured my cohort’s live (remote) reactions to receiving the scholarship in 2020! Link here
