Left to right: Yakima Irving and
Madeline Gozalez
Congratulations to our Students of the Semester in the Evening College; Madeline Gonzalez and Yakima Irving.
As Student of the Semester recipients, Madeline and Yakima demonstrate academic excellence and effort in their degree program and hold a minimum of a 3.8 GPA. Both students were selected by the evening college faculty. Read about Madeline and Yakima.
Madeline Gonzalez was born and raised in Washington Heights and currently resides in the Bronx with her family. She is married and a mother of three young adults and is a grandmother. Madeline attended Chelsea Vocational High School in Manhattan.
Madeline did not have a college degree; however, she has an extensive resume. She has worked most of her life in the administrative field and was blessed to have landed a job as a Payroll Manager for 14 years. She came to The College of Westchester (CW) on a mission to earn her degree and to accelerate in her future endeavors. She chose CW because of the flexible schedule that the adult program had to offer and the fact that the classrooms were small. She is majoring in accounting and is set to graduate in June 2021.
So far, in the time Madeline has been at CW, she has earned three certificates for excellent academics and was inducted into Phi Theta Kappa Honor Society. Madeline’s career goal is that in due time she will be able to open a business as an accountant.
Yakima Irving better known as “Kim” was born in Beacon, NY and was raised in Yonkers, NY where she still resides today. She is a single mother of two amazing and loving children, a daughter 23 and a son 27, who are her true support system on this new journey. She graduated from St. Anne’s in Albany, NY in 1992.
Yakima has always had a passion for helping and working with people, which lead her on the path to work in the medical field. This journey started as a CNA in 2007, and then she went on to earn her Associates of Occupational Studies, Hospital Health Services Management in 2013 at Heritage College. That degree led her to a position with Crossroads Hospice, which has inspired her to one-day start her own hospice company here in New York.
Yakima chose to attend The College of Westchester after seeing a billboard one day while waiting for the bus on her way home from a long day at both of her jobs. She had been thinking for some time about going back to school so she could have a career that she had a true passion for, instead of working at a job just to make ends meet. After her meeting with the admissions team, she knew that CW was a perfect fit with the Adult Learning program that was geared for working adults.
Yakima enrolled in the BBA-Health Services Administration (HSA) program and hit the ground running. In her first year, she has made the President’s List twice and was inducted in the Sigma Beta Delta Honor Society. Yakima will graduate in 2022 and earn her Bachelor’s degree in HSA. She is looking forward to making her mark in the healthcare industry as a Patient Care Manager. Yakima has a special goal after she graduates and that is to give back to the school that has given her so much and to inspire students to be Warrior Strong!