UCR Parent of the Year 2007-2008

Sharon Cobb, is truly an inspiration, not just to her daughter, but to the people that she comes in contact as well. She works as a Social Worker at Inland Regional Center. Her job is working with the developmentally disabled population and provide programs and services to help them achieve a higher standard of living, regardless of their handicaps or disabilities. Her willingness to help others and her dedication to her clients is one of the reason why her daughter chose to major in the field of neuroscience. However, things weren't always as easy as they are now.

In Fall 1991, Cobb's husband passed away. At the time her daughter was three years old. Cobb obtained a Bachelors of Arts in Education at the University of Pittsburgh and a Master of Vocation Education at California State University, Long Beach. She was hired by Inland Regional Center and has been employed there for over fifteen years. Cobb constantly states that if it were not for her education, she could not have provided her family with a higher standard of living.

She has made it her mission to help other students who want to go to college. In 2006, Cobb became the Education Chairperson of her sorority, Delta Sigma Theta High Desert Alumnae Chapter. During this time, she established several college going programs to help motivate and serve the youth in Victorville, who have otherwise gone neglected to the overcrowding in the schools and lack of professional and competent counselors.

In 2007, she brought Young Black Scholars and Black Future Leaders to the high desert. Both of these programs were created to help the African-American community go to college. Cobb worked with a local career counselor and created a college workshop entitled "College Can Happen for Everyone", in which students and parents attend a four week workshop that gave the details about going to college, such as applications, standardized tests, and financial aid. This workshop hosted an average of thirty-five people a week. She also suggested that community leaders and leaders of youth outreach programs be trained in this information and pass it along to the teenagers that utilize their services.

In 2008, Cobb started working with her sorority to mentor thirty at-risk girls in the tri-city area. The Delta Gems and Delta Academy are programs designed to help girls from the ages of 11-18 and assist them school, civil service, and raising their self-esteem. She is working to have the college aged daughters of the sorority, myself included, to talk to these girls about college life and help them in their school work so they can be better prepared when they enter college.

Sharon Cobb has shown that despite many setbacks, it is possible to achieve one's dreams and give back to the community. This is why she was awarded the 2007-2008 UCR Parent of the Year award.


~Najela