These High-Achievers Shine Bright as NJ STARS

NJ STARS is a scholarship program for New Jersey students who graduate in the top 15 percent of their high school class. The program covers the tuition for qualifying NJ STARS who start their college education at a New Jersey community college.

Recently, three young scholars – all from Eastside High School in Paterson – came together with their PCCC EOF (Educational Opportunity Fund) admissions counselor, Mr. Carlomagno Ontaneda, to tell their stories and share their aspirations as current and future NJ STARS.

All three of them, are also Dual Enrollment students, meaning that qualified to take some college-level courses and earn college credits, while still in high school.

Diego Gomez Arroyo, currently a senior at Eastside, ranks third in his class and will graduate this spring as an NJ STAR. He is on track to start PCCC this summer and take advantage of the EOF summer programs for incoming freshmen.

“Mr. Ontaneda opened a door for me when he introduced me to all the opportunities here at PCCC,” said Diego. Originally from Peru, Diego is committed to perfecting his English- language skills and plans to work hard in the EOF/ ESL program this summer to prepare for the start of the Fall semester.

Diego appreciates his language classes and plans to major in English at PCCC, looking toward a future career in international law.

He especially enjoyed connecting with Alpha Eta Chi, PCCC’s chapter of the Phi Theta Kappa International Honor Society. “They were very kind to me and helped me practice my English and prepare for college.”

Inspired by DREAM, an honors program at PCCC for high-achieving students, Diego said,
“Becoming part of the DREAM program is my goal.”

Camila Monterroza, a junior at Eastside, also ranks third in her class and takes advanced placement classes in Spanish, composition, and history, as well as honors classes in physics and Algebra 2. She is a member of both the honor society and Spanish honor society at Eastside.

Camila will become an NJ STAR next year and is already taking college classes at PCCC through the Dual Enrollment (DE) program that enables qualifying high school students to earn college credits early.

“I started DE with English and am now taking graphic design,” said Camila. “I love art and drawing, and music.”

Active in high school life, Camila is president of the student government at Eastside and a steward of the Youth Equity Group, working on projects to improve school facilities and find solutions for school problems.

She is also part of the PCCC GEAR UP College Bound program, another support program to prepare high school students for college success.

An immigrant from Colombia, Camila is excited about her educational future. “This is all new to me. I want to take every opportunity to grow, and I think this opportunity with PCCC has really made a difference for me. I look forward to attending after my graduation from Eastside.”

Juan Arredondo Gallego graduated from Eastside in June 2025 and began his PCCC journey the following September. Now in his second semester as a business administration major, Juan plans a career in international law and says his life has changed dramatically since he first came to the US from Colombia, with his parents, four years ago.

“When I started at Eastside, I didn’t know any English,” he explained. Though Juan was learning the language in his high school ESL classes, he still felt uncomfortable, was shy about speaking, and didn’t make many friends.

By senior year of high school, Juan was fluent in English and a high-performing student who qualified for NJ STARS. At that time, he also met Mr. Ontaneda and was impressed to discover the other opportunities available to him at PCCC, especially the EOF program, PTK, and the DREAM honors program.

“I really appreciate all that PCCC has to offer, especially the amazing faculty and people here. PTK is like a family to me, and Mr. Ontaneda really cares about the students.”

Through the guidance of Mr. Ontaneda, Juan was recently offered two exciting opportunities. He volunteered for HISPA (an organization that encourages youth to pursue a college education), and he was chosen for the New Jersey Governor’s Hispanic Fellows Program, a prestigious professional development experience for future leaders. Read more about Juan’s PCCC success story.

As Mr. Ontaneda is known to say, “For NJ STARS at PCCC, the sky is truly the limit on how our students succeed.”