Monroe single mother wins $2,500 World Impact Scholar award

Balancing a job, childcare and college in a second language is hard enough. Doing it while raising a 7-year-old son and holding a 4.0 GPA earned Monroe resident Olena-Yuliia Nakonechna a $2,500 World Impact Scholar award, a small scholarship with a big impact on the path to a healthcare career in Orange County.

Nakonechna, who worked as a dental assistant for seven years, was selected as a 2026 World Impact Scholar through Phi Theta Kappa’s Coca-Cola World Impact Scholars program. The award is backed by an investment from Coca-Cola North America and recognizes high-achieving community college students pursuing career and technical education in places where the 2026 World Cup will be held. The $2,500 scholarship is aimed at students in certificate or associate degree workforce-development programs at two-year colleges, with priority going to Phi Theta Kappa members in good standing.

For Nakonechna, the recognition arrives as she prepares for SUNY Orange’s Dental Hygiene A.A.S. program, which begins each fall in August and accepts only 20 students through a competitive application process. The two-year program prepares graduates for New York State licensure as dental hygienists and includes clinical experience in the college’s patient care clinic and at off-campus sites, including hospitals.

Her story fits a broader labor-market need. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics projects employment of dental hygienists will grow 7% from 2024 to 2034, faster than the average for all occupations, with about 15,300 openings a year on average. The median annual wage for dental hygienists was $94,260 in May 2024. New York’s dental workforce picture also shows pressure, with an estimated 48 active dental hygienists per 100,000 residents, close to the national average of 50.

At SUNY Orange, the scholarship also reflects the college’s wider support network. The SUNY Orange Foundation awards more than 300 scholarships each academic year, helping students move from short-term financial strain to long-term stability. Nakonechna’s path shows how that support can matter: she said her son, Daniel, was the main reason she kept going, and she described SUNY Orange as feeling like home because of the support she received.

Her message to other adults was straightforward: it is never too late to keep moving toward a goal, even when English is a second language and family responsibilities make the route harder. In Orange County, where Monroe, Middletown and SUNY Orange are tightly linked, her scholarship is a reminder that modest aid can determine whether a working parent finishes a degree and enters a field that needs trained hands.