Academics
32 Wake Tech Students Receive Prestigious N.C. State Scholarship
College Accounts for More Than Half of Goodnight Transfer Scholars
RALEIGH, N.C. (May 8, 2025) – Every year, North Carolina State University offers the prestigious full-ride Goodnight Transfer Scholarship to dozens of community college graduates from across the state. This year, more than half of those scholarship recipients are from Wake Tech.
Thirty-two Wake Tech graduates will start their next educational journey at N.C. State this fall as Goodnight Transfer Scholars. That's the most selected from Wake Tech – or any college – in the history of the scholarship program.
The scholarship is valued at $24,000 per year for up to three years and fully pays for transfer students from North Carolina community colleges to complete their bachelor's degrees. The transfer class was increased from 50 to 60 students this year.
The Wake Tech recipients were selected for demonstrating exceptional accomplishments during their community college career, including stellar academic achievement, extracurricular involvement, community engagement and an affinity for science, technology, engineering, math (STEM) and education. Some have already graduated from Wake Tech, but most will be receiving their degrees on Saturday.
Wake Tech's Goodnight Transfer Scholars and their majors are:
- Agustin Alvarez, mechanical engineering
- Anton Berezhnyi, aerospace engineering
- Youness Bounkiba, statistics
- Eden Broderick, education, technology, engineering and design
- Marie Carter, chemical engineering
- Peterjoseph Chukwu, computer engineering
- Joshua Enoch, polymer and color chemistry
- Dereck Gonzalez, chemistry
- Uliana Gutierrez, fisheries, wildlife and conservation biology
- Sarah Harvey, microbiology
- Cindy Lopez Hernandez, computer science
- Leigha Howell, genetics
- Biruk Kebede, electrical engineering
- Dayanna Lomeli-Juarez, mechanical engineering
- Julisa Mancia, biological sciences – molecular, cellular and developmental biology
- Valentin Hernandez Martinez, aerospace engineering
- Alawar Mazen, mechanical engineering
- Mercedes Gutierrez Morales, statistics
- Ian Ongwacho, computer engineering
- Benedict Ontita, electrical engineering
- Meshach Ramnath, civil engineering
- Josue Garcia Recarte, civil engineering
- Karolaine Reis, computer engineering and electrical engineering
- Emily Rodriguez, animal science
- Anton Saenko, computer engineering
- Aryanah Smith, biological sciences
- Sam Stanforth, biological sciences – ecology, evolution and conservation
- Ruby Waibel, environmental sciences
- Christina Welch, agricultural education
- Jeremy Welty, applied mathematics
- Hunter Wright, computer science
- Zainab Zahir, mechanical engineering
In addition to the scholarship funding, the students also benefit from a program that includes mentoring, leadership development, travel and personalized academic support and career guidance. They participated in a thorough selection process over the Spring semester, which included an application and interview with a volunteer committee consisting of current and former N.C. State faculty, staff and alumni, as well as industry representatives from SAS Institute.
Karolaine Reis says she hopes to contribute to advancements in technology through research and innovation.
"I'm incredibly honored and excited to join the Goodnight Scholar community at N.C. State," Reis said. "I can't wait to dive into hands-on research, grow alongside inspiring peers and take steps closer to building a future in new technologies."
"Wake Tech provided me with a strong academic foundation and a supportive community of faculty and mentors who truly believed in my potential," she added. "Through leadership roles in student government, I developed the confidence, skills and resilience that will help me thrive at N.C. State and beyond."
Derek Gonzalez says he hopes to work in pharmaceutical research and development.
"I like working in health care and want to improve someone's life in some way," Gonzalez said. "I am so excited about all the opportunities I'll get as a result of being a Goodnight Scholar!"
The Goodnight Scholars Program was established in 2008 by N.C. State alumni Jim and Ann Goodnight to provide financial assistance to North Carolina students from low- and middle-income families who wish to pursue STEM education at N.C. State. In 2017, the scholarship expanded to include transfer students from North Carolina community colleges who planned to enroll at N.C. State in the fall after receiving an associate degree.
To date, 97 Wake Tech students have been named Goodnight Transfer Scholars, including 19 last year.
