College expenses seem daunting, but thanks to Healthcare Foundation of La Porte (HFL) and La Porte Hospital, 31 healthcare students in the La Porte community received scholarships on Thursday to aid those expenses.
The 31 scholarships totaled $42,750. In order to apply, students must be pursuing health and wellness careers and must be enrolled at “an accredited university, college, or similar higher learning institute.”
Beyond those two requirements, each scholarship carried its own criteria, and scholarships were available for students in every stage of their academic career—beginning, middle, and end. This is something for which Indiana University undergraduate Christine Ake is particularly thankful.
“I will be starting my senior year, so the fact that they continue to review applicants who aren’t just starting their college career and continue to support them as they try to finish a college career means a lot,” said Ake, who hopes to become a psychiatrist. “A lot of times people encourage freshmen to apply, but they forget that you get a bill every year.”
After each name was announced, a short biography profiling the student’s achievements, community involvement, and future plans was read aloud. Some students who could not be present had loved ones accept the awards for them.
“These are all really quality students who deserve this and more,” said Jane Nelson, Vice Chair of HFL and one of the Scholarship Committee chairmen. “They really are impressive, not just in their academic pursuits, but what they do.”
HFL awarded five scholarships to 19 students. These scholarships were funded through scholarship endowments and individual contributions and were chosen by scholarship committee members Kathy Bernel, Katrina Langford, Jane Nelson, and Linda Satkoski.
Twelve students received the Healthcare Foundation of La Porte Scholarship: Christine Ake, Addison Boardman, Jayna Colanese, Lisa Fischer, Raymond Keener, Victoria Kneller, Sarah Kosinski, Izabela Mazur, Annabelle Papal, Chelsea Suppinger, Moriah Carmel, and Gabriela Mazur.
Suppinger, a second-year pharmaceutical student at the University of Mississippi, shared in celebration with her sister who also received a different scholarship.
“This is really meaningful for us,” she said. “And it helps me to help other people, because then, when I graduate, it’ll allow me to go into the healthcare profession, where I can do what I really love, which is helping others improve their health.”
Marlen Cervantes and Kasia Maddox received the HFL’s Radiology, Inc. Scholarship.
Suzanne Hanna, Abbi Kroll, and Heidi VanWaardenburg received the Magnuson Award.
Katrina Machtemes received the Walter Hrankja Scholarship.
MacKinnon Tracy received the Elizabeth & Eugene Siefker Scholarship.
La Porte Hospital Auxiliary awarded three scholarships to 12 students. These scholarships were funded through sales at La Porte Hospital’s gift shop and were chosen by scholarship committee members Bob Burns, Suzanne Burns, Becky Jensen, and Judy Wright.
Seven students received the Auxiliary First Year Scholarship: Austin Casto, Kesley Creager, Carley Ellenberger, Laura Fischer, Janelle O’Neal, Ashleigh Suppinger, and Abigail Zila.
Four students received the Auxiliary Renewal Scholarship: Skylar Brinkman, Megan Gushrowski, Karmen Halfacre, and Norma Kasinger.
Emily Osowski received the Harold and Marcy Bowen Scholarship.
HFL enjoys helping students pay their educational expenses in any way possible, but it hopes to increase its funding to increase the scholarship amounts given in the future.
“Even a thousand dollars could be books for a semester or a couple semesters,” Nelson said. “But while that is helpful, we’d really like to increase those amounts.”
The Healthcare Foundation of La Porte is excited to see what these young people will do with their futures, and before the evening ended, the students were reminded to consider coming “close to home” when looking for a job.
“They’re really impressive human beings, so it’s great to see people like that with those kinds of skills going into healthcare,” Nelson said.
For more information on HFL or how to apply for scholarships next year, visit https://hflaporte.org/scholarships/.