Seattle Central alum profiled for his journey to success at UW
Seattle Central alumnus and current Math student at the University of Washington, Mark Bennett was recently profiled for a feature article on the University’s homepage. In the article, Mark tells the story of how he overcame homelessness and a drug addiction with the help of YouthCare, a local non-profit that provides housing and services to homeless and at-risk youth. With the help of YouthCare, Mark earned his high school diploma, moved into transitional housing and gained custody of his young son.
He also enrolled at Seattle Central College while he was still homeless, where he first discovered his passion for math. He joined the MESA (Math Engineering Science Achievement) program, which provides academic and transfer support services to STEM majors at community colleges. MESA provided him a space to study and an opportunity connect with students he could identify with. The program also provided an outlet for him to learn life-skills and helped him identify opportunities for how to pursue math as an academic major.
Through the Seattle Central Foundation, Mark received significant financial support from the Dr. Charles H. Mitchell Fund for Excellence Scholarship. The award helps students who have overcome significant obstacles and demonstrate a desire to succeed. He earned an associate’s degree in physics and mathematics from Seattle Central and spoke at Seattle Central’s commencement in 2013. Mark remains connected to Seattle Central and to the Foundation. In November, he returned to campus to present scholarships to current students at the 2014-2015 Scholarship Award Ceremony.