Students Preparing for Health Careers Receive Scholarships from Williamsburg Hospital
Jul 2009
Sentara Williamsburg’s Auxiliary continues tradition of giving
More than 20 years ago, the Williamsburg Community Hospital Auxiliary began awarding scholarships to area students attending college to prepare for health care careers. The first scholarship, in the amount of $1,000, was given in 1988, and over the next several years the auxiliary increased its scholarship funding, providing as much as
J2009 scholarship recipients, (top row, left to right): Nick Gonzales, Jaye Stanley, Alex McKenzie; (middle row, left to right) Winston Fleishman, Karen Corbett, Carolyn Roberts; (bottom row, left to right) Janae Dandridge, Emily Brown, Tabitha Robinson; (Not pictured) Lauren Saulman, Kahley Stanco, Hanna Varnell.
$12,000 divided among multiple recipients. In 2002, the auxiliary applied for funds from the Williamsburg Community Health Foundation (WCHF) to support its scholarship program. The application was approved, and each year since the WCHF has provided funding. This year the auxiliary awarded a total of $36,000 to first- and second-year college students seeking health care careers.
According to Auxiliary Scholarship Committee Chair Gert Berthiaume, this year the committee received 35 scholarship applications from graduating seniors and eight applications from students already attending college. Students from each area high school applied, she says.
Berthiaume will be retiring from her post as scholarship chair in 2010 but says she has “enjoyed every minute of it,” and that “it is wonderful to get applications from students who have so much to offer and are so qualified.”
Lafayette graduate and future Virginia Commonwealth University student Nicholas Gonzales was one of four students chosen to receive a $3,000 scholarship.
“What part of the medical field I want to study is pretty wide open right now,” says Gonzales, who moved to Williamsburg with his family in 2005. “That summer, my mom suggested I volunteer at the hospital so I [wouldn’t be] bored. I did, and it gave me so much joy, I just kept doing it. I’d like to continue doing something in medicine.”
Gonzales has volunteered at Sentara Williamsburg Regional Medical Center (formerly Williamsburg Community Hospital) for four years, helping patients and staff in various ways. As of now he has logged more than 450 hours of volunteer work.
Joining Gonzales at VCU is another Lafayette senior, Kahley Stanco, who also received a $3,000 auxiliary scholarship. Stanco, though, knows exactly what part of the field interests her most: bio-informatics. “It’s a kind of med program that combines biology, statistics, and computer science into one major,” says Stanco. “I’m going to do genetic research when I graduate.”
What piqued Stanco’s interest in the field was her mother’s cancer diagnosis: “When I was eight or nine, we went to Georgetown so she could get genetic testing done,” she remembers. “I was really fascinated.”
College of William and Mary student Erin Morris was awarded one of the second-year scholarships, receiving $1,500 towards tuition for her sophomore year. Morris, who’s currently taking pre-med classes at the college, is interested in studying pharmacy.
“I’m really enjoying school so far,” says Morris. “I love chemistry, and I thought I wouldn’t.”
Her reaction when she heard she would be receiving a scholarship? “I was so surprised and excited,” she says. “I couldn’t believe it. It’ll really help.”
To add to the suspense surrounding selected winners each year, the scholarship committee keeps the names under wraps until each area high school announces them at its own awards day, says Berthiaume: “The students are always so happy when they hear their names. We don’t like to ruin the surprise.”