MCCC's Marrero Found Path to Future through Marine Corps

“Fortune favors the bold.” 

That’s the signature quote of Montgomery County Community College graduate Antonio Marrero of Pennsburg, who will transfer to Dickinson College in the fall on an Honors Program scholarship in pursuit of a B.S. in biology and, ultimately, a medical degree and a career in emergency medicine. 

Boldness led Marrero to the U.S. Marine Corps after his first attempt at higher education didn’t go the way he wanted. 

“I came to the realization that I did not possess the character qualities that would bring me academic success on these roads,” Marrero said in an e-mail interview. “I was a complacent, belligerent and often-procrastinating juvenile with very basic ambitions. After a semester of mediocre course work, I realized that I would slowly slip into dangerous academic waters.” 

Marrero determined that the most effective path he could take to acquire the character qualities he needed – and lose the character traits he didn’t want – was the most difficult one: The U.S. Marine Corps. 

Boldness led Marrero to resume his studies in 2009 as “a highly motivated adult student,” in the words of Dr. Karen Stout, MCCC president.  

“I did not need any convincing to return to academics,” Marrero said. “My service in the military served a functional purpose toward my goal of instilling within me certain ‘winning’ character qualities. I returned to Montgomery County with a new purpose, loftier ambitions and a plethora of new skills – and set my sights and gun for success. My new aim became a medical degree and a career leading future physicians and scientists through innovations in both science and industry.”  

At MCCC, Marrero served in the Student Government Association, where he spearheaded a letter-writing campaign to stop cuts to Pell grant funding, participated in Lobby Day at the state capitol in Harrisburg and honed his leadership skills at the national advocacy conference of the American Student Association of Community Colleges in Washington, D.C., according to a MCCC press release. 

He was elected president of the MCCC Central Campus student body and took another bold step. 

“My administration introduced the already national No H8 Campaign across our college. Our initiatives were the result of the tragic death of Tyler Clementi, the Rutgers student who took his life, and several other LGBTQ [Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender] – and even straight – youths across the nation who could only find refuge from their tormentors in death. As a bisexual former U.S. Marine, I felt the need to extend the feeling of security I have within myself to the others who have not yet found the strength to defend themselves. We openly advocated for the protection of all humanity regardless of life circumstances,” he said.   

Marrero was the student speaker at MCCC’s 2011 commencement exercises in May, the culmination of a bold academic career that included delivering motivational speeches, excelling at his studies, leading the student body, often by example, and volunteering in the Lehigh Valley Hospital Center emergency department. He will provide medical care in Honduras this summer with the U.S. Military Medical Brigades, Stout said.   

Because of his commitment to academics and to service, Marrero was selected as a member of the All-Pennsylvania Academic Team by the Pennsylvania Commission for Community Colleges, USA Today and Phi Theta Kappa, according to an MCCC press release. 

Marrero, Fortune’s favorite, plans to complete a premedical program at Dickinson and to earn a medical degree from The University of Pennsylvania, Thomas Jefferson University, Drexel College or Temple University.