Lebanon Valley College Announces Scholarship Recipient

Jessica Martinez Vargas '27 is Lebanon Valley College's most recent recipient of its full-tuition scholarship for community college graduates. Martinez Vargas earned her associate's degree in Psychology from Reading Area Community College.

Martinez Vargas will major in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, with a career goal of working in the research and development of psychiatric pharmaceuticals.

"I've always had a natural curiosity-a desire to understand how and why things work, and, more importantly in my opinion, how they are created," said Martinez Vargas. "In my life, there has been a history of family members with various mental illnesses. I've seen how some psychiatric treatments significantly improved their quality of life, but I've also witnessed the frustration when certain pharmacological treatments, which were supposed to help, ended up offering little to no improvement-or even worsening symptoms."

Martinez Vargas began studying Psychology and then shifted majors after taking Chemistry and the Biological Basis of Human Behavior. She looks forward to spending time in the research lab at LVC and pushing herself out of her comfort zone.

"As an introvert, I've always been intimidated by clubs and activities that require a lot of social interaction," said Martinez Vargas. "That said, I've also been focusing on getting in better shape, so I might consider joining the Yoga Club or Zumba. Outside of fitness, I'm also considering joining the Hispanic Alliance and Team FTK."

She learned about LVC from a current student and liked the low student-to-faculty ratio and personal feel.

"I'm very drawn to how home-like the campus feels," she said. "The small class sizes will make it easier to build relationships with professors and reach out to them if you need help. This is especially important to me as someone who learned English as a second language and still doesn't fully consider herself fluent."

Martinez Vargas encourages other potential transfer students to visit multiple campuses, watch videos of students sharing their experiences, and talk with family about their academic journeys.

"Most importantly, take time to really get to know yourself-what you like, what you don't, and where you see yourself in the future."