Like most good tales, every success story has a turning point – a moment of inspiration or opportunity that transforms a dream into reality. For many WVU students, those defining moments stem from scholarships. Read more from this WVU Magazine feature ➡️ https://go.wvu.edu/94TR6
Making a difference: Scholarship support at West Virginia University
Transcript
[Music] I plan on pursuing medical�� school, preferably here at WVU. Radiation���� oncologist ��� that'd be my preferred path. I was�� not originally planning on medical school because���� I automatically assumed there's no way I can�� afford both of those with undergrad and pursuing���� medical school after, and once I received the�� scholarship, I actually sat down with my parents���� and thought about the ideas and that's the my path�� I wanted to be. My dental school education so far���� has been both challenging and rewarding. They�� really do care about you, not only as a student,���� but as a person and it really felt like home�� and I knew I made the right choice coming to���� WVU. Not only is the African-American population�� low in West Virginia, it's low in healthcare���� professionals but specifically dentistry. A�� lot of the times it is due to not being able to���� afford to come to college, so the fact that they�� wanted to give to our demographic, specifically,���� resonated with me a lot and I'm just so grateful.�� So, I would just say thank you if I couldn't say���� anything else, it would be thank you. My plan was�� to be out of undergrad debt free for law school.���� Once I received that scholarship, I felt so much�� more. It just made me feel recognized and it���� made me feel important. I have two stepbrothers�� and a sister, we're all around the college age,���� so obviously that's very hard on my family, but�� knowing that I am not a huge expenditure in that,���� makes it all the better. To the donors, I would�� say thank you you so so so much for everything���� that you've done to repair my confidence in my�� personal abilities and academic abilities. So,���� the Emil Czul Scholarship, he recently�� passed away a few years ago in Florida,���� but he was a West Virginia alumni who graduated�� from Oak Hill High School and once he passed���� away he left around $4 million in his will.�� (It) selects two students that are in the���� West Virginia (University) engineering program�� from my hometown county which is Fayette County���� and I was one of the students selected. It�� was, oddly enough, I was laying in my dorm���� room one day and I got an email saying I was a�� recipient of it and it changed my life. Emil Czul,���� may he rest in peace and his wonderful family�� thank you for selecting me. I hope I'm making���� them proud for the decision. Last thing I want�� to do is let them down for them to give me this���� special opportunity, I just do not want to let�� them down. I try to check in with them and send���� them thank you letters every now and then,�� but like I said, I can't thank them enough. [Music]To view or add a comment, sign in
