Miramar College student Razi ElHusseini and Mesa College student Oleksandr Sharlai are among 60 community college students chosen to receive the scholarship from a national pool of more than 1,300 applicants. The scholarship provides up to $55,000 per year for up to three years, supporting students as they complete bachelor’s degrees at accredited four-year universities with minimal debt.
ElHusseini and Sharlai will graduate this month and continue their studies at UC Berkeley and UCLA respectively, pursuing careers in research, medicine, and public service.
At 19, ElHusseini has overcome significant academic and personal barriers on his path toward becoming a physician-scientist. Born in San Diego, he moved with his family to Dubai during the 2008 financial crisis at age five, before returning to the United States at the start of high school amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
“I struggled with the transition, the isolation, and the differences in the education system,” ElHusseini said. “By the end of high school, I felt completely disconnected from learning and had fallen behind, doing math at a 7th-grade level.”
After graduating early and briefly considering not going to college, he enrolled at Miramar College, pursuing Emergency Medical Technician training and the coursework required to transfer to UC Berkeley. There, he rediscovered his passion for learning through peer mentorship, community engagement, and campus resources such as the MESA (Mathematics, Engineering, and Science Achievement) program and Extended Opportunity Programs and Services (EOPS).
Now committed to UC Berkeley to study molecular and cell biology, ElHusseini plans to pursue an MD-PhD focused on oncology research and equitable access to cancer treatment.
“My life goal is to contribute to research that gives patients hope,” he said. “I want to help expand treatment options, especially for populations that feel betrayed by our healthcare system."
The Cooke Scholarship will ease the financial burden of attending Berkeley, allowing ElHusseini to focus on research rather than paid employment.
Sharlai, 22, has similarly transformed adversity into purpose. Originally from Ukraine, he relocated to the US in June 2023 after receiving offers from several universities in the United Kingdom, including the University of Manchester, but was unable to afford the tuition. Instead, he chose a different path in the U.S. and enrolled at Mesa College.
“Going to a community college felt risky at first,” Sharlai said. “But I don’t regret it at all. Mesa College completely changed my life. I met professors who became lifelong mentors.”
Sharlai’s academic interests span biology, psychology, and neuroscience. Inspired by his lived experience with depression and displacement, he focuses on neuropsychology and the relationship between mental health and the brain.
“Mental health is just as important as physical health, and I want to make science accessible to all people,” he said.
Sharlai has already contributed to mental health policy initiatives and national youth engagement efforts. One of his proudest moments at Mesa College came while presenting research alongside students from Ivy League institutions. “I was so honored to represent a community college at an elite level,” he said. “Community college research matters just as much as research conducted at major universities.”
Despite his accomplishments, Sharlai has faced many personal battles, including feelings of isolation during his transition to a new country that led him to seek mental health support.
Receiving the Cooke Scholarship, he said, marked a defining milestone in his journey.
“As an immigrant, sometimes you feel like you don’t fully belong,” he said. “Achieving this scholarship reminded me that my voice matters just as much as someone who was born here.”
This fall, Sharlai will transfer to UCLA to study psychobiology. Long term, he plans to earn an MD-PhD, conduct research in translational neuroscience, and advocate for expanded access to mental health care, particularly for immigrant and refugee communities.
Reflecting on his journey, he said, “You don’t win all the time, I was rejected from Yale. But you have to keep opening doors for yourself. If I hadn’t left Ukraine, I wouldn’t be at Mesa, and without Mesa, I wouldn’t have had this opportunity.”
His guiding motto: “Dream big, work hard, and you’ll achieve more than you imagined.”
The Jack Kent Cooke Foundation announced 485 semifinalists nationwide in March, representing 224 community colleges across 37 states, including nine students from SDCCD colleges.