FTCC student Meg Cruz is the recipient of the Goodnight Scholarship.
At just 20 years old, Maria “Meg” Cruz has experienced life in dramatically different societies — Bahrain, where she and her family lived for 10 years, Dubai, where they lived for 2 years, and her native Philippines, where she returned in 2022 to start her college journey.
Even after moving to Fayetteville with her parents — both nurses at Cape Fear Valley Health — a year ago, the stark contrast between the three places of her childhood hasn’t left her.
“I have been traveling my whole life, and it was fascinating how the infrastructures are so unique,” Meg said. “The transportation management in the Philippines is really poor, compared to someplace like Dubai. So I was interested in how other places are able to manage it and the Philippines doesn’t. I’m not sure if it’s with funding or less education, so I want to focus on that field.”
It’s what led Meg to study civil engineering, a drive to figure out what goes into making cities and their populations develop successfully.
Meg has earned an incredible opportunity to continue studying the field at N.C. State this fall. She’ll transfer from FTCC to the university as a member of the Goodnight Transfer Scholars Program Class of 2028.
The prestigious Goodnight Scholarships, established by N.C. State alumni Jim and Ann Goodnight, provide full-tuition scholarships and comprehensive student development programs designed to develop scholars into leaders within the STEM and STEM-education fields.
After the expense of moving from the Philippines to the United States, Meg wasn’t sure college was an option for her at first. After a friend told her about community college, Meg realized there was an affordable option in town at FTCC.
“My friend at church was previously at FTCC and also transferred to N.C. State, so we had the exact same situation,” Meg said. “So I learned that community college fit with our finances, and I also learned that community college had a small class size compared to a university. I wanted to start with that since this was a new environment.”
Meg said she struggled at first to make friends, but eventually found her stride with the help of her classmates and her instructors.
“The professors here were a big part of helping me adjust,” Meg said. “They’re really hands-on where if they saw that I was struggling, they would offer to help. And if I needed help, they were very approachable.”
In fact, it was Engineering Instructor Jaime Villamil who told Meg about the Goodnight Scholarship, steering her toward her new opportunity to continue her education with scholarship support.
“He told me about the Goodnight Scholarship and other in-state scholarships,” Meg said. “So year, it was the people at FTCC that made it possible.”
Fellow FTCC student Jeff-Michael Fowe has also been accepted into the Goodnight Transfer Scholarship Program Class of 2028. Read his story here.
