Cerritos College Foundation

Photo of Bob Epple with scholarship recipient, Nigora Sharipova. NORWALK, Calif. – November 19, 2008 – The Cerritos College Foundation awarded the Cheryl A. Epple Memorial Scholarship to Nigora Sharipova and Melissa Wakefield at its board meeting on Thursday, November 13. Each student received a check for $1,000.

Cerritos College trustee and husband of the late Cheryl Epple, Bob Epple, presented the scholarships to the recipients.

The scholarship was established in 2004 by Epple and his family to honor Cheryl and recognize students who are committed to service in the community.

Sharipova, a native of Tajikistan, came to the United States as an exchange student while in high school. She had to return to her home country before she was given the chance to celebrate her graduation with her newly-made American friends. She was not sure whether she would ever be able to return to continue her education.

She did return and is now enrolled in Cerritos College where she is majoring in business administration and management. One day she would like to work for the United States State Department in international relations.

While still in Tajikistan she would volunteer by painting classrooms and collecting clothing, toys and food for orphanages. Here in America she has volunteered as an after-school tutor, participated in beach clean-ups and plans to soon start volunteering her time at a convalescent home.

Photo of Bob Epple with scholarship recipient, Melissa Wakefield. Wakefield, of Anaheim, is majoring in psychology at Cerritos College where she also spends time volunteering to help students with disabilities and is involved with the Psychology Club and is Co-President of the Feminist Majority Leadership Alliance.

She also volunteers a lot of her time to the community as well. She participates in beach clean-ups and has given her time to the Avon Walk for Breast Cancer and the AIDS Walk.

She currently has a 3.95 GPA and plans to transfer to the University of California, Berkeley to study psychology with an emphasis in education and development.

“It’s more than an investment in me,” Wakefield said to Epple when he gave her the scholarship. “It’s an investment in the future because I have big changes I want to make in public education.”

The Cerritos College Foundation, a non-profit organization, serves as a charitable vehicle for the community, individuals and alumni, to assist with financial support of Cerritos College beyond that which state funding supports. Visit the Foundation online at www.cerritos.edu/ccf.

Cerritos College serves as a comprehensive community college for southeastern Los Angeles County. Communities within the college’s district include Artesia, Bellflower, Cerritos, Downey, Hawaiian Gardens, La Mirada, Norwalk, and portions of Bell Gardens, Lakewood, Long Beach, Santa Fe Springs and South Gate. Cerritos College offers degrees and certificates in more than 200 areas of study in nine divisions. Annually, more than 1,200 students successfully complete their course of studies, and enrollment currently surpasses 24,000 students. Visit Cerritos College online at www.cerritos.edu.

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