Impact Report: Year-Ends 2021 and 2022

Anthony Leon Chumptazi

Anthony Leon Chumptazi: current student at Cañada College

“Giving back to my community,” is the overarching theme that stood out the most when speaking with Anthony.

Anthony Leon Chumptazi is a first-generation college student. He was raised by his mother, in a single parent, low-income household. Growing up he lived in a small room with his mom up until his senior year in high school. Because of the pandemic, he and his mother acquired a single-bedroom apartment, a space they could call their own. However, because of the cost of living in the bay area, it was still expensive and barely affordable.

For the last three years, Anthony has been a student at Cañada College, which he chose to attend because of the campus’s size. He felt that by attending a smaller college he would be able to build and form strong relationships with administrators and receive more individualized attention from Professors. Anthony is majoring in neuroscience and plans to transfer in Fall 2023 to either UCLA, UC Davis, or UC San Diego.

A student with a strong drive and great promise in neuroscience, Anthony’s goal is to help create drugs for neurodegenerative diseases and intermuscular diseases such as Bell’s palsy and myasthenia gravis. His interest in neuroscience developed early on as he experienced family members, his grandfather and father, who suffered from these diseases. These experiences motivated him to pursue science and fueled his drive to become involved with scientific research so he can one day develop treatments that can help people with neurological conditions. Ultimately, Anthony would like to pursue a career as an independent researcher working for a biotech company or create his own biotech company.

Anthony’s experience at Cañada College has given him purpose and has made him feel validated. He has become involved in extracurricular activities and wants to make a difference in his community. Anthony is co-president of Phi Theta Kappa, Student Senate Officer of Associated Students of Cañada College, and he currently runs three student clubs. In addition to participating in campus activities, Anthony also tutors students in English, Organic Chemistry, Physics, and Calculus.

During Anthony’s last year at Cañada College, he’s been busy leaving his mark on the college while laying the groundwork for future scholars to attend. He played an instrumental role in the Lyft initiative, which served nearly 500 Cañada students and covered rides to and from campus. “Education should not be a barrier when money is a hardship. As a Hispanic student, a minority, money is a big factor.”

Personal experiences and connections have also influenced Anthony’s extracurricular activities and activism in the area of childcare and early childhood education. When Anthony was young, his mother enrolled him in preschool that was free of charge. He’s grateful his mother had access to the program because he understands how expensive childcare can be. He also witnessed the financial struggles faced by students with young children while tutoring his peers. These experiences drove Anthony to join the Child Center Task Force Initiative, formed to build a child care center on Cañada College’s campus. Organizers hope the center can be established and three-seven years down the road the college can offer a “preschool-like program,” to serve Cañada College students with preschool-age children and also serve students who are majoring in Early Childhood Education.

In addition to his many on-campus activities, Anthony is a Cañada College NSF Scholar, a scholarship program is funded by the National Science Foundation through the Achieving Success at College: Education, Networking, and Transfer (ASCENT) grant. The scholarship can provide up to $14,000 over two-three years. Anthony has also interned with a Biotech company for neuroscience and has participated in literary research and presented to UC Irvine.

As a result of the financial aid, scholarships, and support Anthony has received while attending Cañada College he has been able to focus on his education and truly become involved in making a difference on campus. He is a Promise Scholar and has benefited by receiving the food grant and bus tokens through the program. Anthony utilizes the bus tokens he receives to help get to and from his internship in San Francisco.

The scholarships that Anthony has received from SMCCCD have helped him feel more secure and prepared financially for when he transfers to a four-year university. Receiving awards such as the Dale and Helen Mersereau Scholarship, the SMCCCD Bookstore Textbook Scholarship, the Pat Hanada Classified Service Scholarship, and the Cañada STEM Student Scholarship give him the motivation to study even harder. Anthony wants donors to know, “any amount does help, it really makes you feel validated and that there are people out there that will help support your education – the harder you work the more support you receive.” In addition, the scholarships Anthony has received have helped support him and have allowed him to be active and make a difference in his community. “Scholarships that donors provide create an impact now and in the future. Students will remember who helped them along their educational journey and they’ll want to give back to their community.”