The
North Bergen resident will deliver the valedictory speech at the
College’s 41st Commencement ceremonies this Thursday evening;
‘Hamilton’ Star Christopher Jackson will deliver the
keynote speech.
May 15, 2018
/ Jersey City, NJ – Hudson County
Community College (HCCC) has announced that Aminah Chaudhary, a North
Bergen resident and mother of three, is the Valedictorian of the
College’s Class of 2018. She will take the stage and deliver the
valedictory speech during the HCCC Commencement ceremonies at New
Jersey Performing Arts Center in Newark. The event is scheduled for
Thursday, May 17 beginning at 6 p.m. Christopher Jackson, who played
the role of President George Washington in the Broadway hit,
“Hamilton,” will deliver the keynote speech to graduates, their
families, and friends that evening.
Aminah Chaudhary began her college
studies in her native Pakistan, but put them aside after marrying,
immigrating to the United States, and having her first daughter. “I
had always planned to continue my studies when we came here, but my
first baby was two months old, and I was frightened of sitters,”
she says.
As often happens, life took over. Aminah
had another little girl, and she and her husband applied for a visa
for her father and mother to come to the States. After her parents
were here a year, her father was diagnosed with liver cancer and a
herniated disk. Her Dad passed away just seventeen days later, and
Aminah and her mother were faced with the sorrowful task of returning
him to Pakistan – where her five siblings reside – for the
funeral.
She states that she was not herself when
she came back to New Jersey, and was frightened to leave the house.
Her husband told her, “You were a good student; you should go back
to school.”
In January 2015, she phoned the HCCC
North Hudson Campus and learned it was the last day to take the
placement test. “It had been ten years since I’d been in school
and taken tests. I passed the English skills portion, but missed the
math skills by two points, so I signed up for Basic Math &
Algebra (remedial math), and four other classes.”
With help and encouragement from her
husband and her mother – who looks after her three daughters aged
10½ and 8½ years, and nine months – Aminah, who had very little
prior background in or knowledge of art, has successfully pursued an
associate degree in Studio Arts (Computer Arts Option) A.F.A., and is
on her way to becoming a commercial artist. She is a member of the
College’s Phi Theta Kappa and Sigma Delta Kappa honor societies,
and has been a participant in the Goldman Sachs Collaborative
program. She has also been a College Student Success Mentor, and a
member of the North Hudson scholarship fundraising committee. Aminah
has also dedicated time to volunteering at the Garden State Episcopal
Community Development food pantry, the College’s Open Houses, and
more.
Aminah, who is graduating with a 4.0 GPA,
will study Computer Arts-Graphic Design on a Presidential Scholarship
at New Jersey City University. There, she plans to pursue a double
major, adding Art Therapy to her coursework. She is also interested
in earning a master’s degree.
She and her husband of over 12 years also
plan to nurture the educational goals of her daughters, one who wants
to be a scientist, and the other an artist. As for achieving her
academic dreams she says, “If I can’t do it, how can I expect my
kids to do it?”
“I love this College. It turned me
into a whole new person,” Aminah Chaudhary states.