Paola Bermedo-Sturla

Paola Bermedo-Sturla of Hackettstown, N.J. is a Spanish language/ international studies double major.

She has a 3.87 grade point average.

Paola was inducted into the Golden Key International Honour Society, Sigma Delta Pi and Sigma Iota Rho.

Throughout college Paola has been a full time student while continuing to work full time.

Awarded Scholarships

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2015

Hackett, Frances K. ’80 HGS Scholarship

The Hackett HGS Scholarship was started by Frances K. Hackett, who graduated from Ramapo in 1980 with degrees in Business Administration and American Studies. Ms. Hackett began working at Prudential in 1974 and  had a distinguished career at the company where she  served as vice president of Administration and OSGLI.

Ms. Hackett was a dedicated volunteer and supporter of Ramapo College and was honored with the President’s Award of Merit in 2007. She was chair of the Ramapo College Foundation Board of Governors, and was involved with a number of Foundation Board committees, including the Executive Committee, the Distinguished Citizens Dinner Committee and the Annual Golf Outing Committee.

The Hackett SHGS Scholarship honors Ms. Hackett’s experience as a graduate of the School of American and International Studies, the former name of the School when she attended, and recognizes outstanding students in the School.

Sykes Family Scholarship

Suzanne Sykes and her late husband, Donald, founded Marpac Industries Inc. in 1967. Marpac manufactured custom plastic containers for specialty chemicals, with offices in Waldwick, NJ and manufacturing sites in New York, California, Oklahoma and Ireland. After selling the company in 1998, Sue enrolled at Ramapo as a returning adult student. She earned her degree in American Studies in 2006 and remains very active with her alma mater.

Of her experience at Ramapo, she says, “The encouragement of the faculty was the probably the most surprising and most meaningful for me. I had some initial concern about how I would be accepted by other students, but it had not occurred to me how the professors might feel about an older student. I was put at ease and never felt uncomfortable. On several occasions, professors told me that they appreciated my presence in their classes, because it changed the dynamics and brought fresh perspectives. Needless to say, I was delighted.”

Sue was a volunteer counselor with the Service Corps of Retired Executives (SCORE), which provides small business mentoring and training, and is a former member of the Alumni Advisory Board of the School of Humanities and Global Studies. She now devotes her volunteer hours to various leadership roles in her church and the Ramapo College community. She established the Sykes Family Scholarship to benefit other returning adult students who are pursuing American Studies at Ramapo. She hopes that by completing her college degree as an older adult, she has set a good example for her five grandchildren that learning is a life-long rewarding endeavor.