This story appeared in the latest print edition of City Times.

Raised with different native languages, cultures, and previously separated by the International border, San Diego City College students Tatiana Butte and Lucia Huerta now call each other family.

Strangers prior to attending City, Jack Kent Cooke Foundation Undergraduate Transfer Scholarship recipients Butte and Huerta are bonded for life.

“I am so happy that we are sharing this journey together and wherever she goes for her education, we’ll stay in touch, we’re family now,” Butte said about Huerta.

As the Jack Kent Cooke Foundation Undergraduate Transfer Scholarship recipients, Butte and Huerta will be gaining much more than $40,000 per year of financial support, but rather a holistic support system including personal and academic counseling and mentorship resources that consider the needs of the entire student.

“If I am having any problems in school I can go to them, even if I need to take a break from school I will not be penalized, the scholarship will be there for me when I go back,” Huerta said.

“It is a great support system that will help me a lot as I navigate through college, as the first generation in my family to go.”