By Carla Zanoni
DNAinfo Reporter/Producer
UPPER MANHATTAN — Members of Community Board 12 celebrated the Upper Manhattan recipients of a scholarship program that helps Inwood and Washington Heights students attend Columbia University.
Aury Garcia, an 18-year-old first year student at Columbia who grew up on 184h Street in Washington Heights, said the Dyckman Institute Scholarship has enabled her "childhood dream" to attend the school.
"Sometimes being a minority means you have to create your own opportunities," she said at the CB12 full board meeting on Tuesday. "It’s really nice to get recognition for lots of years of work."
Garcia said she is currently studying science and hopes to major in psychology and ultimately go to medical school.
"We are proud to have these students as role models for the children and youth of our Washington Heights and Inwood community," said CB12 president Pamela Palanque-North.
The scholarship program provides financial support for four students each year in addition to the approximately 21 students from the area that currently receive some sort financial aid to attend Columbia College and Columbia’s Fu Foundation School of Engineering and Applied Science.
"The Dyckman Institute Scholarships are a part of Columbia’s commitment to making college affordable for all families," Kevin Shollenberger, dean of student affairs for Columbia, said in a public statement.
The Institute's roots can be traced to Upper Manhattan through Alexander Hamilton, whose widow, Eliza, donated the building and land in 1818 for the first school in Washington Heights, called the Hamilton Free School.
The school later became the Dyckman Library and then the Dyckman Institute, until trustees of the Institute dissolved it in 1943 and established a scholarship fund at the school for Upper Manhattan students.
