Community College of Rhode Island student Taline Mkrtschjan of Cranston has been named a 2020 Phi Theta Kappa New Century Transfer Pathway Scholar and will receive a $2,250 scholarship. Selected from more than 2,000 applicants nationwide, Mkrtschjan was awarded the scholarship for her academic achievement, leadership, and service to her college and community.

Mkrtschjan graduated from CCRI this May with a 4.0 GPA and will transfer to Rhode Island College through the JAA program, where she plans to study computer science. After earning a bachelor’s degree, she hopes to continue with her education to attain a graduate degree with the dream of working in higher education.

“Taline’s commitment to achieving her educational goals is inspiring, even more so given all it took for her to get here,” said Meghan Hughes, CCRI president. “We are proud of her hard work both in and out of the classroom. She is so deserving of this scholarship and recognition, and we thank her for her service to our college and her community.”

Mkrtschjan’s path to CCRI is far from ordinary. Her grandparents were survivors of the Armenian Genocide who immigrated to became refugees in Lebanon and struggled to rebuild their lives. Her father, orphaned as a young child, did his best to provide a better life for his family, but the family’s financial situation made it near impossible for Taline to continue her higher education.

Mkrtschjan’s childhood was defined as the country of Lebanon was torn apart by a civil war that lasted 17 years and took the lives of nearly 120,000 people, mostly civilians.

While it is impossible for others to understand the fear and instability of living through a civil war, it was those experiences that shaped her drive to succeed and excel in life. “Losing friends during the brutal civil war instilled in me the power of perseverance and the strength of overcoming adversities from an early age,” she said. “My childhood experiences motivate me to perpetually cherish life every day.”

While on a vacation in Greece, Mkrtschjan met her husband John, an American citizen. They eventually married and Taline moved to the United States. She had hoped to continue her education but chose to stay at home to raise her children, giving them a nurturing environment that her own childhood lacked.

Fluent in Armenian, Arabic, French and English, Mkrtschjan worked as a medical and legal interpreter throughout New England for more than two decades.

In 2018, after her youngest son graduated from high school, Mkrtschjan decided to fulfill her lifelong dream of attaining her bachelor’s degree and enrolled in her first semester at CCRI. “I am a first-generation college student, and I want to demonstrate to my children and my community the value of education at any stage in life.”

Further, she adds, “as the descendant of survivors of the Armenian Genocide, I have learned from an early age that community is crucial to the survival of one’s identity.” Mkrtschjan is an active member of the St. Vartanantz Armenian church in Providence, the Armenian Relief Society, and the Hamazkayin Educational and Cultural Society of Providence. She has also served as an Armenian language teacher at the Mourad Saturday Armenian School in Providence.

“Attending CCRI was the best decision of my life and I am extremely grateful to all the wonderful professors and advisors that helped me along the way” Mkrtschjan says. She also thanks the CCRI community for giving her opportunities to realize her dream of attaining a college degree.

CCRI is at the forefront of improving the ways community college students are prepared to advance their education and career prospects. Named America’s 2019 2-Year College of the Year by Education Dive, CCRI expects to have the highest three-year graduation rate of any community college in New England by 2021.

For more information, visit www.ccri.edu.