Coca Cola Scholarship Invests in a Mother Who is Using Education to Help Fight Cancer

When Elizabeth “Ellie” Scicchitano read the email notifying her she had been selected as a 2015 Coca-Cola Leaders of Promise Scholar, her thoughts quickly turned to her mother, who is battling Stage 4 breast cancer.

More than anything, the scholarship spurred her to stay the course on her journey to become a research oncologist and do her part to conquer the disease that has ravaged her family.

Scicchitano, 32, a second-year Biology major and mother of a 7-year-old daughter, carries a 3.72 grade point average. She is co-president of scholarships of the Rho Epsilon Chapter of Phi Theta Kappa, the largest and most prestigious honor society for community college students. “It’s hard to raise my daughter and go to school, but if my mother isn’t giving up, there’s no excuse for me to give up,” she said.

Scicchitano is a recipient of Coca-Cola’s Leaders of Promise Scholarship. This year, 200 recipients nationwide were selected by a panel of independent judges from more than 1,100 applicants. Winners were selected based on outstanding academic achievement, demonstrated leadership potential and essays written on leadership.

The mission of the scholarship is to help motivated students get to the finish line, and forge a career to serve others, change the world and create an enduring legacy. Scicchitano embodies that mission.

“Ellie is a tenacious woman whose ambition to succeed is fundamentally driven by a desire to be an exemplary role model to her daughter,” said Art Department chair Dr. Sarah Iepson, an associate professor who doubles as Phi Theta Kappa advisor. “I feel fortunate to have watched her grow as a student, an academic and a leader over the last two years.”

A wisp of a woman who could easily pass for a junior high school student, Scicchitano speaks with a matter-of-fact authority and world-weary wisdom that comes from witnessing her mother battle breast cancer for almost a decade.

Scicchitano’s mother was originally diagnosed with Stage 2 breast cancer seven years ago. “We thought we caught it,” she said. But two years ago, it returned, and had metastasized with a vengeance.

Instead of cowering in a corner, wondering whether she would be stricken next, Scicchitano did what came naturally — she studied the disease.

“I started doing research — that’s the only way I knew how to deal with it,” said Scicchitano, whose grandmother and aunt also suffered from breast cancer. “In talking to the doctors, I started toying with the idea of being an oncologist. I thought I could have some kind of impact because I knew what people went through.”

Interestingly enough, it took her mother becoming seriously ill to motivate Scicchitano to fully commit to her education and pursue her goals.

“By going to school,” she said, “I can take an irrational fear and break it down into something that can be studied…I can stop being afraid.”

The Coca-Cola Leaders of Promise Scholarship is part of Community College of Philadelphia's Learning Without Limits campaign. As the College celebrates 50 years, Learning Without Limits will share stories of businesses, nonprofits and leaders that help students achieve their academic goals and make it to the finish line.