Each year ABWA Camelot contacts the local School Districts informing them of our upcoming scholarship event. Applicants are screened, taking into account scholastic ratings, extra curricular activities both in and out of the school along with financial need. If you are interested in finding out more about our guidelines, you may contact us at msj0737@verizon.net for more information.

The following three young ladies are our continuing Scholarship recipients for the year 2010 / 2011:

Having completed my sophomore year at Penn State- University Park, I am now working on an Internship at Hershey Medical Center- Penn State College of Medicine as well as taking two online summer courses through the Penn State World Campus. The internship consists of working as a Teaching Assistant for high school students for the month of July, and then conducting research with a mentor from the Institute for Diabetes and Obesity. We work with Professors from the Biochemistry and Molecular Biology Department of the College of Medicine. Through my research, I will be studying the effects and various techniques of dieting in different communities. I will also be working on getting published on assorted Diabetes topics to build my resume for Graduate school. My ultimate goal is to obtain my PhD in a Public Health field.

This past spring, I took a class to become an EMT and have just recently received my certificate and EMT card in the mail. I will hopefully be working with Company 20 or Centre County Life Link in the fall. I will also be a Resident Assistant in Haller Hall in for the remainder of my time at Penn State.

My plan is to take 17 credits in the fall, two of which will be the Women's Leadership Initiative that I am a part of. The remainder of my classes contribute to my major and my second minor. My major is still Bio-Behavioral Health and my two minors are Global Health and Health Policy and Administration.

My name is Elaine Sotherden and this fall I will be a junior at Grove City College, majoring in mathematics with a Chinese minor. This past year at school seems like it has flown by, I can hardly believe that I am already halfway through. During the fall semester, I volunteered as a tutor at a neighborhood afterschool program in Pittsburgh and arranged volunteers for the school's winter blood drive. Throughout the year, I continued to create and run PowerPoint for the chapel worship team, and in addition, participate in the newly-formed Chinese club. I especially liked the classes I took this past year: Linear Algebra, Combinatorics, and Differential Equations. I am really excited by my studies and have already decided to enter graduate school after finishing at Grove City. As you know, I spent last summer in Xiamen, China, studying abroad; this year I am remaining a little closer to home, working at the Frederickson library in Camp Hill. I would like to express my sincere gratitude for the scholarship you have given me, without which many of my goals would be more difficult to dream, much less achieve.

My next two goals are to apply for the McNair Scholars Program, which is a research program for minority students at Penn State, as well as apply to become a Lion Ambassador.

It's hard to believe another year has past and that I will soon be a Junior here at Bloomsburg University. I am very busy with my studies this year and I am continuing to be active in the Student Nursing Association and will be volunteering at a school nursing symposium taking blood pressures. Last semester I took Microbiology, Pathophysiology, Professional Nursing and Health Assessment. This semester I am currently taking Pharmacology, Nutrition, Statistics and Foundations of Nursing. I have been able to experience many new things this year.

I have had the opportunity to get involved in nursing homes and work with the elderly to help them concentrate on their health and what they can do to improve it. The patient I was assigned to had high cholesterol and blocked arteries so I made up a food pyramid for him to follow and taught him the importance of maintaining a good diet.

I am currently involved in a clinical experience for one of my classes and have been assigned to Bloomsburg Hospital. I feel the hospital is much more exciting and faster paced than the nursing home so I am really enjoying it. I was assigned two patients and had to follow them from preoperative care through postoperative care. I was able to observe a nose surgery and shoulder surgery. It was a very educational experience and I enjoyed the surgeries very much. I also recently gave my first injections to my patients which was very exciting and felt wonderful to know I was actually helping somebody!

I am looking forward to the years ahead as I know they will pass quickly. I hope all the ABWA ladies are doing well and I hope to see you all again in June!