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DeHart Scholarship
The $2,000 A. Robert DeHart and Rena Frabony DeHart Memorial Scholarship honors
De Anza’s founding president and is awarded for service to the college community.
Kimberly Weber
Kimberly Weber was kind of shy when she came to De Anza three years ago. But she said she learned to “break out of my bubble” by joining clubs, making friends and talking with her instructors.
This year’s DeHart Scholarship recipient made her mark at De Anza, where
she helped lead the Zero Waste environmental club and spent countless hours doing restoration work in the Cheeseman Environmental Studies Area (ESA). After graduating with an associate degree for transfer in Mathematics, Weber is transferring to the University of California, Berkeley, where she plans to study biomedical engineering.
“Kimberly was a leader. She volunteered for an incredible number of hours, helping
us with our ongoing restoration project,” said ESA coordinator Diana Martinez, who oversees the 1.5-acre natural garden in the southeast corner of campus.
Weber, 21, said she became interested in biology and the environment as a teenager. She also likes to build things, and wants to pursue a bioengineering degree so she can create medical devices that can help monitor and treat health problems.
After hearing about De Anza’s reputation for being “Tops in Transfer,” she decided it would be a good place to begin her college studies while she decided on her long-term goals.
In her time at the college, Weber also worked with Mentors@De Anza and has been a note-taker assisting students in the Disability Support Services program. After struggling a bit in her first year, she said things got easier as she made friends and became more comfortable with approaching instructors when she had questions.
Counselors and tutors at the Student Success Center were also helpful. “It’s important to take advantage of all the resources that are here,” she said. “And if you have free time, it really helps to get to know people and spend time with them.”
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