Meet Rotary's Nontraditional Student Scholarship Awardee Analia Pilco

BRANFORD, CT —The Branford Rotary in 2023 began providing nontraditional student scholarships at CT State Community College at Gateway in New Haven. Awarding $5,000 a year, the funds are being used to help nontraditional students from Branford who are 26 and older.

Ilkay Ozdemir Sen was the first student profiled in Patch. Read her story here.

This is Analia Pilco's story:

There’s a very good chance that Analia Pilco works harder than you do.

Some days, Pilco drives a passenger to JFK airport at 3 a.m., she returns home, goes to her full-time job in New Haven by 8 a.m., puts in an 8-hour shift, and then?

"Then I travel to other my other job, which is from 4:30 to 8:30," said the 34-year-old Branford
resident. “Then I come home, I study for my classes, and I make lunch for the next day, just to
do it all over again.”

She almost laughs when she explains this. She’s not complaining. They are just the facts of her
life.

And that determination, that drive, is why Branford Rotary is proud to name Pilco as one of
our 2024 ‘Resilient Scholars.’ New this year, Resilient Scholarships are awarded to adult
“nontraditional” students from Branford who are age 26 and older and attend CT State College –
Gateway, in New Haven.

They are Gateway’s first-ever scholarships exclusively for nontraditional students, and Pilco, who received $1,000, is one of the first recipients.

"When the financial person at Gateway called with the news, I dropped my phone,” Pilco
recalled. “I was so happy. I never got anything from anybody before.”

Across the country, there are millions of motivated, older students like Pilco who have jobs, and
often young families, but rarely get support. Unlike many high school seniors, these
nontraditional students pay their own way to enroll in universities, community colleges, or technical programs where they look to earn certificates in fields like electronics, automotive repair, or water management.

By introducing Resilient Scholarships, where Branford Rotary gives $5,000 a year to five Gateway students, the Club hopes to change that.

A native of Ecuador who became a U.S. citizen three years ago, Pilco moved with her parents
and sister to Connecticut in 2009, during the financial crisis. She lived in a house with 10 family
members – with aunts, uncles, cousins – and always worked. But she also dreamed of going to
college. She enrolled at Gateway in 2022, and now takes three classes a semester: two at
Gateway, and one at Charter Oak College in New Britain, where she is pursuing a B.A. in
business.

"For us older students, we’re trying to fit in a class between our crazy schedules, or with our families, and trying to find time in between jobs for two or three hours of school. We have food, rent, textbooks are so expensive," Pilco fought back tears, "I’m sorry, but people don’t understand. The fact that I was able to get this scholarship that will help me, even to buy books, you have no idea what it means."

Branford Rotary President Ellen Carucci said the Club is happy to help.

"I’m so glad we’re able to support students like Analia; hard-working people who are so deserving," Carucci said. "The Resilient Scholarship program is one of the best things Branford Rotary has ever done."

Pilco doesn’t disagree.

"The name ‘Resilient’ is the perfect description of all of us trying striving for a better future,"
she said.

Pilco said she eventually plans to get her degree and go into accounting. Until then, it’s work,
work, work, classes, repeat.

When does she sleep?

"On Sundays," she said with a smile. "Or I can sleep when I’m dead!"

Then she mimed laying in a coffin and holding something to her chest.

"But I’ll be holding my diploma!"

If you want to help Branford Rotary help these students, or if you want to learn more, drop a
note to info@branfordrotary.org.

Editor's note: The author's name was misspelled and has since been corrected.