23-year old Veronica Puente was a standout at Wake Tech. The honor student graduated in 2014 with an Associate in Arts degree after an exceptional year. She was inducted into Phi Theta Kappa, the largest honor society in American higher education, and received the 2013 Community College Scholarship Award from NC AHEAD, the North Carolina chapter of the Association of Higher Education and Disability. Veronica, who is blind, was the only NC community college student to receive the  award that year, a $500 scholarship. 

Veronica says disability support services and her instructors played a huge role in her success. “Wake Tech sparked my interest in education,” she says. “The personal attention really helped me do well in my classes.” Carolyn Koning, Disability Support Services Coordinator at Wake Tech, says “Veronica was a remarkable student. She is exceptionally bright, tenacious, and diligent – everything Veronica does, she does well.”

Veronica enrolled at Wake Tech in 2011 after graduating from high school. She was the first in her family to attend college and plans to continue her studies in International Relations. Veronica’s goal is to help educate people, especially those outside the United States, about people with disabilities. “We can reach our goals. We just need the tools to make it happen.”