On June 11th, the Rotary Club of Nashua presented our Annual Scholarships. Michael Aquino and Jane Marquis led the program, recognizing the Committee Members and thanking the Board for allocating a little extra money this year, and giving a brief overview of the 5 scholarships that were awarded. Several past recipients sent letters and/or came back to give us an update on their progress through school. Jane and Mike then introduced the winners of this year’s scholarships.
Several past recipients sent letters and/or came back to give us an update on their progress through school. Letters came from Jessica Schuyler (entering her senior year at Wellesley College, Army ROTC and International Studies, who’s in Taiwan studying Mandarin), Sarah Allison (entering her senior year at Bentley, Economics and Finance, with a Marketing Minor, spent a semester in Barcelona, internships with Liberty Mutual last spring and with BAE Systems this summer), and Shea Roe (Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, bioinformatics and molecular biology, overcame some health issues to stay on track in school, dad is former Club member Tim Roe).
Joining us in person were Sam McIntyre (entering his junior year at The College of William and Mary, Monroe Scholar which recognizes the top scholars at the college, double major in English and Hispanic Studies, internship with The ARC – www.thearc.org – helping this organization which focuses on promoting and protecting the rights of those with intellectual and developmental disabilities enhance their outreach and access to support, will be interning at St. Paul’s School in their summer writing workshop) and Olivia Montine (last year’s Arsenault / Faucher winner, attending Seton Hall where she’s an honor student, one of 3 Freshmen Senators elected to the Student Government, 1st year Leadership Award for her work promoting health services, lots of volunteer work through her sorority).
Jane and Mike then introduced the winners of this year’s scholarships:
Madelaine Duda was awarded the $10,000 Arsenault / Faucher scholarship. Madelaine is the President of the Interact Club as South, recipient of 2 coaches awards in Varsity soccer, volunteers for Special Olympics, Symphony NH and the Boys & Girls Club of Greater Nashua. She’ll attend Springfield College, where she’ll study Speech Pathology, with a goal of working in a school setting.
Sithara Nimbiar was awarded a $10,000 scholarship. Founder and President of BG’s Science National Honor Society and STEM Club, Sithara works as an lab intern at UMASS and Dartmouth Medical Center, volunteers at the Nashua Soup Kitchen, and headed up an African Library Project where she exceed goals in both number of volumes collected and dollars raised. Sithara is attending Tufts University, where she’ll be a pre-med student and hopes to continue to be an active volunteer.
Anson O’Young was awarded a $3,000 scholarship. Vice President of the Interact Club at North, Anson placed 2nd in the the NH state competitions for both the Science Olympiad and the Math Team Meet. A volunteer math tutor who also has completed several mission trips with his church, he will graduate in the top 5 in his class and head to Brown University (SMILE Editor says “YAY”) in the fall, where he will major in biochemistry before heading to medical school.
Molly Plaisead received the final $3,000 scholarship. Molly is a snareline drummer with the Nashua Spartans Drum Corps, as well as a Select Band section leader and a concert choir singer at North, a music mentor at Elm Street Middle School and a volunteer with Symphony NH. Molly will study music composition and theory at UMASS Amherst.
The final scholarship recipient was Candace Gordon, childcare director at Marguerite’s Place, who was awarded the $2,500 Adult Learner Scholarship. Candace was 18 years old and a single mom. She completed high school and enrolled in college to study early childhood development, but didn’t complete her degree. At 21, she moved into the transitional program at the Adult Learning Center. Today, at 44, she’s completed her Associates Degree and is working towards her bachelor’s at Granite State College. Happily married, with 3 children and a grandchild, Candace looks forward to completing her degree and furthering her work, seeing it as “full cycle” to work with those who are where she was 23 years ago.