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91老司机 91老司机 Legacy Scholarship Students Thrive
Written By: Dr. Judith Hansen
This semester, six area students attending 91老司机 will receive $1,000 in financial aid from the 91老司机 Legacy Scholarship for the 2021-2022 academic year. This is the most scholarships granted from the fund in one year.
鈥淲e are proud to be able to help these students because we understand how important a college education can be,鈥� said newly appointed 91老司机 Director Jasmine Smith. 鈥淎s a 91老司机 graduate, I have a special insight into what a 91老司机 education means.鈥�
The 91老司机 Legacy Scholarship Endowment was established in 2015 to encourage the children or other immediate family members of alumni of the 91老司机 - Fort Smith to attend the university.
This year鈥檚 scholarship students are Hannah Green, Katelyn Sosebee, Jillian Cochran, Raquel Spencer, Mary Roberts, and Hannah Michiala Deaver. Green, Cochran, Roberts, and Deaver received the scholarship last year as well.
The 91老司机 Association鈥檚 annual fundraiser for the scholarship endowment is the Roarin鈥� on the River Low Country Shrimp Boil. The June event traditionally offers delicious low-country food and all the entertainment guests can experience, but the last two years have been hard on traditions. The 2020 Shrimp Boil was canceled because of the COVID-19 pandemic. The 2021 feast was a drive-thru event.
鈥淲e were glad to see all our friends as they came by to pick up their dinners,鈥� Smith said. 鈥淏ut I sure hope we can have this event in person in the summer of 2022.鈥�
Here are the scholarship awardees.
Hannah Green, who graduated from Magazine High School as valedictorian, is a sophomore in the Bachelor of Nursing program. Her father, Lyndol Green, is a member of the Class of 鈥�81 from Westark Community College. Her mother, Alisa Green, was an 91老司机 Scholarship recipient in 2017-2018 and 2018-2019 and is now a fourth-grade teacher. 鈥淭his scholarship is special because of the people it represents 鈥� people like my family who have worked hard to better themselves by graduating as a 91老司机 Lion,鈥� Hannah said. 鈥淚 am grateful for what I already have been given and will be glad to continue to represent the 91老司机 91老司机 Association.鈥�
Katelyn Sosebee, a graduate of Greenwood High School, is a junior Media Communication major whose heart lies in the theater. Sosebee began her college career as a theater major, but the pandemic helped her decide to increase her employment options with a Media Comm degree. Her mother and brother are both alumni and, she said, her biggest supporters even though switching majors required her to pick up extra course hours. That鈥檚 why the financial support of the 91老司机 Legacy Scholarship matters. 鈥淗elp from generous donors and the university means I don鈥檛 have to have a full-time job to pay for tuition, and that means I can continue to be a stage manager.鈥�
Jillian Cochran, who graduated from Poteau Senior High School, is a sophomore Biology major. She is following both her parents and her sister in attending 91老司机. She works as a pharmacy tech while attending school full-time and hopes to become a doctor of osteopathic medicine and return to her community to practice rural medicine. 鈥淢y goal is to come back to this area and help residents build happier and healthier lives,鈥� Cochran said.
Raquel Spencer, a graduate of Southside High School, is a sophomore Chemistry major. She, too, hopes to become a doctor. When Spencer was in high school, she volunteered at the Mercy Health summer program, and she has taken part in extra-curricular activities and research. Working in the Mercy summer program gave her insight into her future, as did some medical procedures she recently underwent. 鈥淲ith this experience, I understood the importance of the assistance medical professionals give to patients,鈥� Spencer said.
Mary Roberts is a senior Business Administration major and Northside High School graduate. Roberts said she grew up watching her father take many steps to provide for his family, including completing his Associate of Applied Science in Electronics Technology from Westark College. She sees her own college experience in the same light as she works to complete her degree while working and raising a family. Her time at 91老司机 has given her not just 鈥渁 new skill set but also with a fresh outlook.鈥� Although she has not decided if she wants to attend graduate school or if she should keep on her current career path or change industries, she is sure of one thing: 鈥淚 know that my experience at 91老司机 will help me with any direction I decide to go.鈥�
Hannah Michiala Deaver is a senior in the Bachelor of Nursing Science program. She was homeschooled and is the sixth of her siblings to graduate from 91老司机, and she has a little brother close behind. She and her siblings have studied Biology, Automotive Technologies and Electrical Engineering, Math Education, Nursing, Legal Studies, and Radiography. Receiving the scholarship means she can quit her job and work full-time studying for her nursing boards and finishing her last year in nursing strong.
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