Jessica Cortese, a 2008 graduate, was named the 2016 Alumna of the Year for Contributions to the College,\u00a0its Alumni Association or its Foundation. The award was presented during Celebration Day, an annual event\u00a0that also honors College employees reaching milestone service anniversaries, and two Outstanding Service\u00a0to the College award winners.<\/p>\n
Ms. Cortese was a student in Project Connections, a program that provides college-able students with\u00a0learning disabilities with academic and other support so they can succeed.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy gratitude and involvement with MCC never faltered,\u201d she said as she accepted the award. \u201cIt is because\u00a0of the people here, in this room, and the students outside these walls that I am standing here today. I would\u00a0like to thank Middlesex County College for shaping the person that I am today: academically, personally and\u00a0socially. I would like to specifically thank Project Connections for helping me find my autonomy.\u201d<\/p>\n
After graduating from MCC, Ms. Cortese transferred to The College of New Jersey where she earned a dual\u00a0Bachelor\u2019s Degree in English and Women and Gender Studies. She earned her Master\u2019s Degree from\u00a0TCNJ, graduating with a 3.95 grade point average.<\/p>\n
Ms. Cortese is very active in the community. She is the treasurer of the Human Relations Council of\u00a0Plainsboro, which addresses the social needs of the community and plans events that celebrate\u00a0Plainsboro\u2019s diversity. A trustee of MCC\u2019s Alumni Association Board, she participated in the Association\u2019s\u00a0Habitat for Humanity building project last summer, volunteered at MCC\u2019s 50th Anniversary Community Day\u00a0Celebration, and, for the past two years, has entertained guests as \u201cLady Luck\u201d at the MCC Foundation\u2019s\u00a0Casino Night events.<\/p>\n
Awards were also presented to two individuals for Outstanding Service to the College. Judy Robinson was\u00a0presented the award for staff and Patricia Cardinale for administrators.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Jessica Cortese, a 2008 graduate, was named the 2016 Alumna of the Year for Contributions to the College,\u00a0its Alumni Association or its Foundation. The award was presented during Celebration Day, an annual event\u00a0that also honors College employees reaching milestone service anniversaries, and two Outstanding Service\u00a0to the College award winners. Ms. Cortese was a student in […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":3291,"menu_order":3,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-3326","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mccdemosite1.devsiteurl.com\/mcc-publications\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/3326","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mccdemosite1.devsiteurl.com\/mcc-publications\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mccdemosite1.devsiteurl.com\/mcc-publications\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mccdemosite1.devsiteurl.com\/mcc-publications\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mccdemosite1.devsiteurl.com\/mcc-publications\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3326"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/mccdemosite1.devsiteurl.com\/mcc-publications\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/3326\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3327,"href":"https:\/\/mccdemosite1.devsiteurl.com\/mcc-publications\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/3326\/revisions\/3327"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mccdemosite1.devsiteurl.com\/mcc-publications\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/3291"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mccdemosite1.devsiteurl.com\/mcc-publications\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3326"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}