Ann Marie Hormeku

Ann Marie Hormeku wrapped up her studies at Perimeter College amid a swell of excitement. Just before graduating in May 2016, Hormeku learned she was among only 75 students nationally selected to receive the prestigious Jack Kent Cooke Undergraduate Transfer Scholarship.

The award provides up to $40,000 a year toward tuition and fees for undergraduate education. After earning a bachelor’s degree, each Cooke Scholar is eligible for a graduate school scholarship worth up to $50,000 a year for up to four years.

The scholarship funded Hormeku’s dream of transferring to the University of Georgia where she is majoring in English, while also managing her responsibilities as a wife and mother to three young children.

“I had been accepted to UGA, but I knew I was going to come up short financially, even with student loans,” she said.

While at Perimeter, Hormeku started a support group for students with children and won a number of academic awards.

A one-time teen mom who started college in her late 20s, Hormeku said two jobs—and two lay-off notices—helped her make the decision to enroll at Perimeter.

“I knew college was an investment in my future,” she said.