Maria Mosso

Edgecombe Community College student Maria Mosso, who also is an Edgecombe Early College High School senior, is the college’s nominee for the prestigious Dallas Herring Achievement Award for 2016.

This award was established by the North Carolina Community College System in 2010 to honor the late Dr. Dallas Herring, one of the state’s earliest advocates of community colleges.

Mosso says she knew as early as the eighth grade that she was going to attend and graduate from Edgecombe Community College.

“When I was in middle school, a presentation was given to the student body about the Early College program. It was interesting to learn that the location of the high school was on the ECC campus,” Mosso says.

She visited the campus and was impressed with the high school curriculum and the opportunity she would have to obtain an associate degree at ECC.

“I knew this was an opportunity I couldn’t let pass,” Mosso says.

On May 7, she will receive not one but two associate degrees from the college: an associate in science and an associate in arts.

She will receive her high school diploma on May 26.

High school can be tough for kids, and the Early College is not easy. The program is rigorous and meant to seamlessly transition high school students into a college curriculum while they are still in high school.

Despite the challenges, Mosso says attending ECC has been a great experience.

“At ECC, we are family,” she says. “I love the fact that we have a tutoring center with skilled instructors who help students. Every time I had trouble understanding something in class, it was really easy for me to go to the instructor and ask for help. I have learned so much at ECC, and I feel ready to take on a four-year college.”

Mosso’s determination to succeed in school is driven by her parents. “My parents’ encouragement and support are the reasons I’ve succeeded in school,” she says. “Neither of my parents attended school, so they encouraged me to take advantage of the opportunities at ECC and to do my very best.”

The Dallas Herring Achievement Award is presented annually to one current or former student in the N.C. Community College System who best embodies Dr. Herring’s philosophy of “taking people where they are and carrying them as far as they can go.”

Mosso will go far. She plans to attend Meredith College in the fall and eventually pursue a career in medicine.

There are so many individuals in this world who are in need of medical assistance, and through my career I hope to help those people who are less fortunate.
-Maria Mosso