Scholarships offer the kind of financial support that can make the difference between a college completer and a stop-out. They’re lifelines, cables of hope that can lift a student up and over some of life’s most formidable obstacles.
For many Virginians, the cost of a college education is such an obstacle. But this year’s cohort of Virginia Foundation for Community College Education (VFCCE) scholarship recipients won’t have to shoulder that onerous burden. A total of thirty-two students have been selected to receive fellowships, meaning each will be awarded $7,000 for tuition, books, fees, and other college-related expenses. The program’s sponsors – Anthem Healthkeepers, the Potomac Health Foundation, and the Virginia Bankers Association Education Foundation (VBA), provide the funding while the VFCCE oversees and administers the scholarships.
The students also get to participate in a series of programs designed to build and strengthen their leadership skills. Additionally, they’ll have access to mentoring and unique network-building opportunities. It’s a support package that keeps on giving throughout the second year of the students’ community college experience and beyond.
VBA fellow/Reynolds Community College student Teunshea Morris taking detailed notes during a skill-building exercise.
Teunshea Morris, an accounting major at Reynolds Community College, was named a VBA fellow sponsored by Atlantic Union Bank. She says she was both excited and nervous when she first learned of her selection. She was also glad that someone “Noticed me and all of my hard work.”
Earlier this month, Morris and her fellow students assembled for the annual Fellows orientation, where, among other things, they learned how to hone the skills they’ll need for success in today’s techno-driven workplace. They also learned of their obligations as scholarship recipients. Chief among them – maintaining a 3.0 GPA, which is no small task, given that some of the students are also parents. For them, time is a precious commodity that has to be budgeted with precision.
Angela Duff, an Anthem Healthkeepers’ fellow from New River Community College and mother of four, says she’s up to the challenge. Her biggest goal is to be a successful and empathetic nurse who gives back to her community.
Potomac Health Foundation fellow and Germanna CC student Jayden Destin epitomizes the “active listener” during a seminar on leadership.
“This scholarship will help me financially but will also give me leadership skills to continue to go out there and build confidence to keep growing in my career.”
Caden Owens is equally optimistic about his future. He, too, was named an Anthem Healthkeepers fellow. Owens says his biggest goal is going through medical school to get his Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine or working as both a firefighter and MRI technologist.
“My college (Southwest Virginia) is helping me with both through the radiography and computed tomography programs before I transfer to a four-year to get my MRI registry,” he said. “This scholarship will give me both the financial and networking aid I might have otherwise not received, and also help in my applications.”
Jayden Destin, named a Potomac Health fellow from Germanna Community College, was asked about gratitude and what it meant to him personally. His answer was simple — gratitude is something you’re supposed to give back.
“I’m very grateful to my parents and my family, and the friends I have today for contributing to who I’m going to be tomorrow, and I plan to pay everything back to them when I start succeeding.”
For this group of fellows, success seems inevitable. They’re focused and motivated, keenly aware of their potential, and eager to reap the life-changing benefits a college education can provide.
Read more about VFCCE fellowships,
