Colonie High senior Oneida Shushe had one goal in mind for high school: to make sure her college education was not a large financial burden on her parents. In late May, she met her goal, breaking records at the high school’s awards ceremony.
Shushe walked away from the awards ceremony with over 20 scholarships totaling about $24,000 dollars to go toward her education at Colgate University, based in western New York. Shushe, a native Albanian, immigrated to the country nearly one decade ago and has since been named Colonie High School’s valedictorian for the class of 2015.
Colonie Central High School held its annual awards ceremony Wednesday, May 20, to give winning students scholarships from the school and various organizations. This year, the school gave out $71,000 in scholarships with South Colonie’s Dollars for Scholars program giving out $26,000.
Dollars for Scholars president Tami Sherry said the school has been doing the event for over 25 years, and that Dollars for Scholars has been collecting funds for students since 2004.
“It was one scholarship started by the Colonie Alumni Association,” said Sherry. She said that the organization is entirely run by volunteers, both faculty and students, including Sushe.
Among the scholarships of the night, Shushe was awarded the Dollars for Scholars Bonnie Bucci Memorial Scholarship in memory of the retired South Colonie kindergarten teacher. The scholarship awards $500 for four years directly to Shushe’s tuition at Colgate. She said while it may change, right now she is looking to study biology.
“I’ve applied since September,” said Shushe of the scholarships. She said she applied for 50 in total. “I hoped to win a few, so I was pleasantly surprised. I couldn’t believe it, to be honest.”
Sherry recalled writing several letters of recommendation for Shushe and that she felt the Colonie High senior deserved every one. But she said that what stood out most was, on top of hundreds of volunteer hours, Shushe did everything without complaint.
“The fact that she located here from another country as a young girl and mastered the English Language exquisitely,” said Sherry. “She leads through quiet example, which is rare to find in a high school student.”
In 2004, when Shushe was 9 years old, her parents were picked for a diversity visa program and emigrated from a small Albanian town to the United States with their two children.
Sherry said that Shushe’s brother had a little more difficulty, since he started learning English in middle school, but that he still excelled in high school, taking several foreign languages. He is currently studying at Clarkson University.
Shushe, however, said that her main motivation toward winning scholarships and doing so well in school lied mainly with her parents. Since they had given up family and the life they built in Albania to move to the United States, she wanted to make sure her parents would not have to worry about her education.
“Many people fear they won’t be able to pay. I told my parent’s they wouldn’t have trouble. That’s why I was so motivated. I was working toward the goal of not having them pay much,” said Shushe.
In order to get the scholarships, Shushe has completed hundreds of hours of volunteer work, including at St. Peter’s Hospital. She and a good friend also started the Kindness Club out of the William K. Sanford Library. And, following in her brother’s footsteps, she joined the Key Club as secretary for two years, then president in her senior year.
Sherry said that Shushe has helped keep students in Key Club motivated, thanking everyone for their service, helping her peers figure out which volunteer opportunity is best for them, and making sure the students know who their volunteering helps.
With her busy schedule, Shushe said one of the biggest challenges she has faced is managing her time between what she should do with schoolwork and what she wants to do with volunteering. The other challenge was getting over her shyness, which she said Sherry helped her with in Key Club.
“I think it was Key Club that helped shape who I am today,” she said. “I’m not afraid to lead and pursue my passions.”
