Supported by his professors and advisers in SPARC, he applied for the NC State scholarship. Their coaching and help in the application process is something he remains grateful for to this day.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cMoney was an issue; my mom just didn\u2019t have the resources to support me through college,\u201d Vina Moreno said. \u201cIf it wasn\u2019t for the Goodnight [Scholarship], I probably wouldn\u2019t have made it to NC State \u2014 there was no way possible I would\u2019ve been able to pay for it.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Vina Moreno indeed was awarded a Goodnight Scholarship and, six years after he first moved to the United States, he graduated this month with a bachelor\u2019s degree in biological sciences with a concentration in integrative physiology and neurobiology.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Along with the financial assistance, the Goodnight Scholarships program provided him with a support system and access to people and programs that helped him grow.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThe financial support, that was amazing, but I knew the value of the program beyond the money side,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n He notes that it took him a while to become confident enough to communicate with people in English, and the Goodnight Scholars helped. Through activities like workshops and skill-building activities, his confidence grew to the point that, today, he\u2019s comfortable speaking in front of a room of people.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI\u2019m going into science, and I want to become a doctor. Communication skills are very important,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Though much of his time at NC State was not \u201cnormal,\u201d thanks to COVID-19 restrictions, Vina Moreno said the Goodnight Scholars team continued to offer events and services as much as possible, providing a community for him as well.<\/p>\n\n\n\n He also served as a STEM coach once it was safe again to visit local youth and talk to them about their futures. He recalls going to a Boys & Girls Club in Raleigh where he encountered a group of kids who were not interested in science at all. His team found a way to get them to work on Punnett Squares and \u201cthey were loving it,\u201d he said. Other kids he has encountered already loved science but were unsure where to go with that passion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThe kids who were not very interested in science, we got them interested, and for kids that were interested in science, we showed them a path to college,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This fall, Vina Moreno took the last of his NC State classes online and returned to Gaston College, where he works for the SPARC Program, serves as a research assistant and tutors in the sciences.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI\u2019m helping kids now \u2014 it\u2019s a way of paying back the contributions that the SPARC Program gave me,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n After working hard over the past six years, he plans to take a little time and then apply to medical schools, enrolling in 2024 if all goes according to plan.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Vina Moreno said he has a particular interest in rare diseases \u2014 the ones that are not curable or perhaps don\u2019t yet have a clear treatment. Those types of diseases sometimes don\u2019t receive enough attention and doctors don\u2019t receive enough training on them, he said, and he\u2019d like to work to change that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n He credits NC State for setting him up for success and the Goodnight Scholarships program made it all possible.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cIf you\u2019re from a low-income family, you already have an unequal start going to college,\u201d he said. \u201cGiving people like me a scholarship kind of balances out everything financially.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThe financial stress would have been devastating for me \u2014 I wouldn\u2019t have been able to go to NC State at all. That right there highlights the importance of the Goodnight Scholarship.\u201d<\/p>\n This post was originally published<\/a> in Giving News.<\/em><\/p>","protected":false,"raw":"\n\n\n\n\n Jes\u00fas Vina Moreno, a member of the NC State class of 2022, knows a little about overcoming adversity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n As a child growing up in the Dominican Republic, he became so ill he nearly died. Doctors tried everything until, he said, one particular doctor tried one more treatment. It worked.<\/p>\n\n\n\n His mother, a doctor herself, later moved to the United States. Vina Moreno joined her as he prepared to start college, enrolling at Gaston College, a community college in Dallas, North Carolina. He spoke very little English and struggled in the beginning, eventually taking time off from college to better learn the language.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Rather than giving up, Vina Moreno kept his eye on his goals. With dreams of becoming a doctor \u2014 sparked in part by his mom, as well as the doctor back in the Dominican Republic who worked to save his life \u2014 he improved his English and re-enrolled at Gaston College.<\/p>\n\n\n\n As a scholarship recipient there through the STEM-focused SPARC Program<\/a>, he first heard about the Goodnight Scholarships program<\/a> at NC State. Gaston College would provide him with an associate\u2019s degree, but Vina Moreno needed a four-year degree to apply to medical school.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Supported by his professors and advisers in SPARC, he applied for the NC State scholarship. Their coaching and help in the application process is something he remains grateful for to this day.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cMoney was an issue; my mom just didn\u2019t have the resources to support me through college,\u201d Vina Moreno said. \u201cIf it wasn\u2019t for the Goodnight [Scholarship], I probably wouldn\u2019t have made it to NC State \u2014 there was no way possible I would\u2019ve been able to pay for it.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Vina Moreno indeed was awarded a Goodnight Scholarship and, six years after he first moved to the United States, he graduated this month with a bachelor\u2019s degree in biological sciences with a concentration in integrative physiology and neurobiology.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Along with the financial assistance, the Goodnight Scholarships program provided him with a support system and access to people and programs that helped him grow.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThe financial support, that was amazing, but I knew the value of the program beyond the money side,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n He notes that it took him a while to become confident enough to communicate with people in English, and the Goodnight Scholars helped. Through activities like workshops and skill-building activities, his confidence grew to the point that, today, he\u2019s comfortable speaking in front of a room of people.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI\u2019m going into science, and I want to become a doctor. Communication skills are very important,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Though much of his time at NC State was not \u201cnormal,\u201d thanks to COVID-19 restrictions, Vina Moreno said the Goodnight Scholars team continued to offer events and services as much as possible, providing a community for him as well.<\/p>\n\n\n\n He also served as a STEM coach once it was safe again to visit local youth and talk to them about their futures. He recalls going to a Boys & Girls Club in Raleigh where he encountered a group of kids who were not interested in science at all. His team found a way to get them to work on Punnett Squares and \u201cthey were loving it,\u201d he said. Other kids he has encountered already loved science but were unsure where to go with that passion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThe kids who were not very interested in science, we got them interested, and for kids that were interested in science, we showed them a path to college,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This fall, Vina Moreno took the last of his NC State classes online and returned to Gaston College, where he works for the SPARC Program, serves as a research assistant and tutors in the sciences.<\/p>\n\n\n\n![\"Jes\u00fas](\"https:\/\/news.giving.ncsu.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2022\/12\/20221216_105915-836x1024.jpg\")
<\/a>![\"Goodnight](\"https:\/\/news.giving.ncsu.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2022\/12\/IMG-7258-768x1024.jpg\")
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