College Scholarship Helps Local Firefighter Graduate Debt-Free

HORSEHEADS, N.Y. (WETM-TV) — A Chemung County teenager is graduating college free of debt thanks to a scholarship program she says more people need to know about.

Nicole Serejo just graduated from Corning Community College and paid only $99 for two year's of tuition.

She pulled it off by being a volunteer firefighter.

Serejo had already been a firefighter for six months when her mother encouraged her to apply for FASNY’s “HELP” program, a statewide college reimbursement program geared toward recruiting firefighters.

“I would say if you have the interest in joining a fire department, if you were interested before in doing it, I would recommend checking out your local fire department, whatever is in your jurisdiction, and then searching for the information on the FASNY program, and that will definitely help you,” says volunteer firefighter Nicole Serejo

Scholarship is determined by your letter grades, so Serejo admits she paid $99 for one class she got a “C,” in, but has paid nothing since maintaining “A's” and “B's.”

Serejo would like to pursue a pre-med of anthropology degree, but says volunteer firefighting can turn into a career path too for folks interesting in being EMT's or paramedics.