Amelia Melendez graduated from MCCC in May 2024 and transferred to Princeton University where she is continuing to study Physics and interning at the Plasma Physics laboratory. PHOTO | Demetrius Davis
It took six years before Amelia Melendez and her family got their immigration paperwork approved so they could move from the Dominican Republic to the U.S. Despite all the challenges, however, she was excited about the move.
“My passion is to study, and I thought I would be able to enroll in a school as soon as possible,” Melendez says, adding, “The only school I had access to [back in Copeyito de Nagua] didn’t have a lot of resources. I never knew about a microscope or anything like that.”
But things didn’t go to plan. Two days after they arrived, then 21-year-old Melendez had to go to work. She started at a perfume warehouse, then at H&M, working for two years to help stabilize the finances of her household.
So how did she get from a warehouse to Princeton University? She started at Mercer.
Melendez says, “I remember this day on my way to my job, and I was on public transportation and I saw this guy with a book. My sister was like ‘I’m pretty sure he goes to college’ and we went up and asked. [It turned out he] was going to Mercer.”
Melendez began using her hour commute to and from work to improve her English. She says, “On my way to my job I was watching YouTube videos of people teaching English.”
But despite her personal efforts, when she arrived at MCCC wanting to start her studies, she was told she had to start by taking a sequence of English as a Second Language (ESL) classes.
Her first class was with Professor Michael Beihl. Now retired after more than 35 years, he was the college’s ESL program coordinator at the time.
Prof. Beihl says, “Amelia was quick to link up with people in the class. She was a person willing to be with others and she didn’t show off her abilities.”
After spending several semesters learning English, Melendez got a job in the college’s work-study program.
She says, “I didn’t really know what it was but it sounded like what I wanted to do, so I checked ‘yes’.”
She ended up working in the Testing Center under Whitney Braxton-Werts, a Testing Specialist, who Melendez says served as not only a mentor and supervisor but became her friend.
Braxton-Werts says, “Amelia understood her job well and she was always able to ask for help. She was always supportive and kind.”
Melendez’s next steps on her path to Princeton were more typical for an Ivy League student. She earned her way into the college’s Honors program and found an area of interest she was passionate about with professors who could mentor and inspire her.
The major was Physics. Dr. Jing Huang, Professor and Coordinator of the Physics program at Mercer guided her in her next steps.
She says, “As Physics students you need to ask. Ask for clarification. Ask for help. Ask for someone to help you. And I think [Amelia] is exceptional in doing that.”
Melendez used her increasing skills and capabilities to tackle new challenges.
The first was the Princeton Transfer Scholars Initiative (TSI), a summer program for ”a small and talented cohort of students considering transfer to selective four-year colleges,” according to their webpage. Students take two for-credit courses at Princeton University over the summer. The program is free, the students receive a stipend for expenses, and they have access to faculty and campus resources just like other undergraduates.
Theresa Melendez (no relation), Mercer’s Honors Coordinator, was Melendez’s mentor through not only classes but also understanding the programs Melendez was taking on.
She says, “Amelia was always pursuing the next level, especially when she did the TSI program at Princeton.”
According to Melendez, the TSI Program was like a flashback to her beginnings as a student.
She says, “I remember that the whole month. I think it was June. I spent every day studying how to write an essay and type on the computer. I saw people typing really fast and I saw it as a superpower. I wanted that superpower.”
Melendez worked to get both the superpower and an A in the class.
Reflecting back, she says, “[TSI] showed me what Princeton was looking for, and they wanted leaders. I realized I hadn’t done any of that.”
Aiming to develop herself more as a leader, Melendez took on more challenges back at MCCC. She added more courses to her schedule, became a physics and math tutor, and participated in NASA – National Aeronautics and Space Administration’s Community College Aerospace Scholars program.
Next, she got into a second Princeton program. In the spring of 2024 she was selected for the Princeton Teaching Transfer Initiative (TTI) where students take a Princeton-accredited class at MCCC taught by visiting faculty.
When Melendez walked into the TTI classroom she says she made an instant connection with Dalia Cancel-Batista, a second-year engineering student at Mercer.
Cancel-Batista says, “From the moment we met I saw her as a big sister to me.”
She adds, “It was nice to see her, we both related on being the older sibling and she was a woman in the class, and she was from my country.”
When it came time to write her application essays for Princeton, Melendez says, “It seemed impossible.” But Cancel-Batista was one of the friends there to help her overcome the intimidation and in the end, Melendez’s efforts paid off.
When she received the acceptance letter from Princeton, Melendez says, “I couldn’t believe it was real. I kept looking at the screen thinking it was fake. But I was so happy.”
At MCCC’s 2024 graduation, Melendez was invited to be the student speaker. She received numerous honors for her work and associate degrees in physics, math, and engineering.
Melendez’s world of saying “yes” and consistent work has ultimately brought her to Princeton as a full-time student where she is already embracing new challenges working as an intern in the Plasma Physics laboratory.
Melendez not only showed herself, but showed her friends and classmates, that what seems impossible can be possible.
Cancel-Batista says, “It gave me hope. If she can do it, I can do it.”
