For Commonwealth Legacy Scholar Jasmine Kellaway, Germanna was the smart choice

Jasmine Kellaway, a 2013 Mountain View High School graduate, has friends who went straight to major universities. She decided to stay home in Stafford County and go to Germanna Community College. It was a decision that required wisdom and maturity rare in an 18-year-old.

“I guess you could say I have a lot of smart friends,” said Kellaway, this year’s GCC Educational Foundation Commonwealth Legacy Scholar.

Germanna student Jasmine Kellaway

“I thought it would be smarter for me to save money by going to Germanna, getting my associate’s degree, then transferring to Virginia Tech,” Kellaway said. “Two years at Germanna is a lot less expensive than two years at a university. I want to be an engineer and Germanna is a really good stepping stone for transferring to Virginia Tech with the guaranteed transfer agreement.”

She graduated from MVHS with distinguished honors and a grade point average of 4.28. At MVHS she was a member of the National Honor Society, was vice president of the International Baccalaureate Discussion Club and a member of the Future Business Leaders of America--and was part of an FLBA national business ethics competition. She was Student of the Month for May 2013.

She plans to pursue bachelor’s degrees in both electrical engineering and business at Tech, and may further her educational goals by obtaining a master's degree in engineering. “The classes at Germanna are a good size for me,” Kellaway said. “You have a lot of one on one time with professors. College credit she earned at Mountain View through Germanna’s Dual Enrollment program may help her earn her associate’s in less than two years.

“I haven’t had a professor yet I didn’t like,” she said.

Prof. Davyda Hammond has encouraged her to get involved with the Engineering Club, which travels to competitions at universities. Dr. Hammond is working with GCC Experiential Learning Coordinator Cheri Ober to help Kellaway get an engineering internship.

“Jasmine set the standard for exceeding expectations on day one of my Engineering Graphics course and has continued to impress me with her work ethic and aptitude over the entire semester,” Dr. Hammond said. “She loves to learn and challenge herself in the classroom; yet, she is not only concerned about mastering the course material for herself. She helps her fellow classmates by sharing her knowledge so that everyone in the class can produce their best work. She is highly intelligent, conscientious, and considerate--a rare combination. I look forward to watching and witnessing her growth as a learner and as an aspiring engineer as she continues her studies at Germanna.”

Kellaway said she considers herself fortunate to have graduated from high school at a time Germanna's new Engineering Program is taking off--there were 228 students in the program in Fall 2013--and just a year after the college opened its impressive new Science & Engineering Building and Information Commons.

The Commonwealth Legacy Scholar award, in honor of J. William Price III and Patricia Price, is $3,000.

“I really look forward,” Kellaway said, “to being part of an engineering firm, starting at the bottom and working my way up.”

Germanna's Science & Engineering Building