A determined City College student from Kenya has overcome poverty and cultural barriers in pursuit of her sixth grade aspiration to become a doctor.

Rose Mwangi, 24, will be leaving City College after being awarded a scholarship to Mt. Holyoke University in Massachusetts.

The freshman hopes to attain her degree in medicine and return home to her village in Kenya with enough knowledge and experience to help care for her native people.

“I have seen people with medical issues die in wheelbarrows on their way to a clinic because they could not get proper transportation and care,” Mwangi said. “My community does not get the health care they need.”

In order to pay for her passage to Santa Barbara, her village of almost 1,000 people threw a fundraiser for her, selling cows, land, and donating any extra money. Mwangi said the people of her village see her as a role model.

Reinforcement for Mwangi’s cause stemmed from childhood experiences in her impoverished rural village located in a center province of Kenya. Mwangi’s dream was sparked in the sixth grade from reading books by neuroscientist Ben Carson, text she borrowed from her teacher.

“I felt he had overcome the same obstacles as me as an African American and in poverty, yet he has accomplished so much as a neuroscientist,” said Mwangi. “Ever since being exposed to his books I knew I wanted to pursue medicine.”

Mwangi remained enamored with medicine throughout high school and her interest in the subject grew after she was invited to Nairobi University, one of the five colleges in Kenya. Mwangi’s research on the spread of disease in nearby Uganda showed her how the health care problems are all over Africa.

“It opened my vision being at school outside my village, it gave me a new view of life that I have not experienced.” Mwangi said. “I saw that illiteracy, poverty, and lack of health care were all connected, just like they are in my village.”

Eighteen months into her studies in Nairobi, Mwangi was forced to drop out.

As coffee farmers, Mwangi’s parents did not have the income to support her studies throughout college. The University deals with such a flood of applicants that any chance she would be able to return was doubtful.

“I was extremely depressed,” she said. “This is something I started, my dreams were still alive with me but it was beyond my power.”

Mwangi began researching opportunities for schools in California and stumbled upon City College. Since enrolling, Mwangi has maintained a 4.0 GPA as a part of the Phi Theta Kappa honors society and is employed at the International Education Center on campus.

“I accredit my success at SBCC to the help I get from international students office,” Mwangi said.

“Rose has brought diversity to SBCC,” said Rosemary Santillan, senior ddvisor of the international student support program. “She is a great person, I think her perspectives bring awareness to other students in the classroom environment.”

One of Mwangi’s favorite aspects of City College is the availability of teacher-student relationships.

“You have the chance to be you as a student, which is not the case in Africa,” Mwangi said.

Mwangi will enroll in Mt. Holyoke in September and try to enter the Urology program.

“I have no doubt she will meet her goal to be a physician,” Santillan said. “Rose is a survivor, she has smarts, she has the potential, and she has the dream.”

Mwangi mentioned that 40 percent of Kenya’s population are unemployed and do not have a viable education, a statistic that she would like to change.