Cranford, NJ – Union College of Union County, New Jersey (UCNJ) is proud to announce that student Precious Opaola, of Linden, has been selected as a Kaplan Leadership Scholar. Opaola is one of only ten students recognized in the tristate area for this leadership opportunity.
The Kaplan Educational Foundation spearheads the Kaplan Leadership Scholar Program. This program targets students at two-year schools who are distinguished in their academics, have leadership potential, and demonstrate financial need. Opaola is the fifth student selected from Union for this program.
Opaola is studying social services at UCNJ. She serves as the Vice President of Service and Fundraising for Phi Theta Kappa (PTK), an American Honors scholar, a member of the National Society for Leadership and Success, and a tutor at Union’s Academic Learning Center. In her spare time, she is a volunteer for Union’s Office of College Life. After Opaola graduates from UCNJ, she hopes to transfer to either Columbia University, the University of California, Berkeley, or Princeton University, and wants to continue studying social work. Along with three other UCNJ students, she participated in a summer 2023 intensive program at Princeton University.
For her career, Opaola aspires to guide people, specifically lower income children, and set them up for a successful future. Her goal is to own a non-profit organization that focuses on helping lower-income children take advantage of the opportunities around them.
“The UCNJ community is proud of the diligent work and passion Precious has put into her studies. She is a student leader who is also heavily involved on our Campus. The opportunity to be a Kaplan Leadership Scholar will help her to continue to develop and grow her leadership skills” stated Union’s President Dr. Margaret M. McMenamin.
UCNJ is a public, comprehensive community college that provides quality, affordable, accessible educational programs to the greater Union County region. It is the first of New Jersey’s 18 two-year colleges, serving both career-minded and transfer-oriented students since 1933. The College offers a wide variety of academic and extracurricular activities. Union provides many experiential learning opportunities such as access to a Bloomberg Business Center, Innovation Center, and Student Research hub. Additionally, students at Union attend one of the top 25 community colleges in the country for 2023 and a top 150 for 2025 as designated by the Aspen Institute College Excellence Program. For more information about Union, please visit www.ucc.edu and for more information on the Kaplan Leadership Scholar program, go to www.kaplanedfoundation.org/
