Maskana Adedjouman has always been interested in construction. The science behind the process of creating buildings, bridges, roads, and dams, always fascinated the boy from Togo, West Africa.
Now 24, Maskana came to the United States in 2010 with his family in search of a better life and one in which he could learn to build all the things he dreamed of making as a boy. Realizing this would be impossible without a college education, Maskana first had to learn English. After completing an ESL course in Manhattan and earning his GED, he found an “educational home” at Eugenio María de Hostos Community College.
“Living in the Bronx, Hostos was convenient, but more importantly, it had a lot of students like me. I felt at home here and I felt I belonged.”
Maskana said Hostos’ jointly-registered dual admission program with the City College of New York was another important reason for enrolling here. The Hostos program has the same curriculum as the first two years of the licensure-qualifying civil engineering program at CCNY. It also meets the licensure guidelines of the Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology (ABET).
In order to earn his degree as soon as possible, Maskana opted for the Hostos Accelerated Study in Associate Programs (ASAP) Program. ASAP is designed to help highly motivated students earn their degrees as quickly as possible, with a goal of graduating at least 50 percent of them within three years.
For Maskana, ASAP was a game-changer. The one-on-one advisement and tutoring services kept him on track. ASAP expanded Maskana’s educational horizons when the ASAP director and a Career and Employment specialist encouraged him to apply for scholarships and grants so he could pay for a Summer Study Abroad program in China.
Having earned his Associate in Science (AS) degree in Civil Engineering with an impressive 3.95 GPA, Maskana has been accepted by several four-year colleges, including Cornell, Berkeley, Illinois, California Irvine and Virginia Tech.
However, Maskana did not just bury his head in books at Hostos. Wanting more out of this college experience, he joined the Hostos Student Leadership Academy and the Robotics Club, and was involved in the STEM-intensive C-STEP Program.
Maskana also wanted to pay it forward by helping other students with backgrounds that were similar to his, so he joined the New York City Louise Stokes Alliance for Minority Participation (NYC-LSAMP) in STEM Program. This initiative recruits underrepresented students majoring in STEM fields to form a community of scholars in which academic excellence is encouraged and expected, and where students will receive support from faculty members as well as their peers.
Still wanting to do more for his classmates, Maskana was the founding President of Hostos’ Supplemental Instruction (SIC) Club, which works with students to improve their math skills.
With his solid academic foundation, Maskana intends to transfer to one of the several four-year colleges that have accepted him and continue to pursue his goal of constructing a great career.
“I think I would like to continue my education and become a teacher. Hostos taught me so much about giving back. I would like to do both.”
About Hostos Community College
Eugenio María de Hostos Community College is an educational agent for change that has been transforming and improving the quality of life in the South Bronx and neighboring communities since 1968. It serves as a gateway to intellectual growth and socioeconomic mobility, as well as a point of departure for lifelong learning, success in professional careers, and transfer to advanced higher education programs. The College’s unique "Student Success Coaching Unit" provides students with individualized guidance and exemplifies its emphasis on student support services.
Hostos offers 29 associate degree programs and five certificate programs that facilitate easy transfer to CUNY's four-year colleges or baccalaureate studies at other institutions. The College has an award-winning Division of Continuing Education & Workforce Development that offers professional development courses and certificate-bearing workforce training programs. Hostos is part of The City University of New York (CUNY), the nation's leading urban public university, which serves more than 480,000 students at 24 colleges.