Scholarship Awards Ceremony Brings Donors and Students Together
This year’s scholarship recipients had the opportunity to meet the donor providing their tuition support at the 45th Annual Nash Community College Foundation Scholarship Awards Breakfast.
The Foundation awarded $225,568 in scholarships to 266 students for the 2021-2022 academic year at the event held in Brown Auditorium on Thursday, December 2, 2021.
“Today, we live in a world full of challenges and hardships,” student scholarship recipient Candice Alston shared with attendees. “One in which we have seen firsthand, Covid, has caused the loss of loved ones, fear, and isolation. Yet, we remain strong and before us stands an opportunity. Opportunity that has been granted to us by family, friends, and faculty who have continually encouraged and uplifted us, and this college, which is providing the setting, resources, and faculty to help lead us to a brighter future.”
Candice Alston is pursuing a degree in Early Childhood Education. She is the recipient of the Early Childhood Education Faculty & Alumni Scholarship established in 2019 by Sarah Prezioso, Public Services Department Chair and Early Childhood Education Program Director, and Briley Rascoe, instructor, to assist students in the Early Childhood Education program.
“Being a scholarship recipient has opened many doors for me and my children,” Alston said. “I was truly honored to receive this scholarship. The joy I felt and the push of wanting to succeed even more overtook me, and I started thinking ‘Candice, you can do this.’ It reminded me of how much support I have, even when the odds looked stacked against me.”
During the spring of 2020, like many organizations, the NCC Foundation was forced to cancel or redesign its fundraising efforts due to the pandemic. However, donors came through funding the establishment of a record number of new scholarships during the year.
“Over the years, donor support has touched the lives of so many NCC students and families wishing to enhance their education and pursue their dreams,” 2021-2022 NCC Foundation Board President Don Raper said. “Many of the opportunities these students are striving to achieve would not be possible without the continued support of so many donors in this community. Your support provides scholarships that allow the student to earn degrees and diplomas. Many of these students choose to stay in the Rocky Mount area.”
“I want my children to look at me as a positive example and know that they can do anything they put their minds to,” Alston continued. “To the scholarship donors, thank you for believing in us as not only students but as individuals. Individuals who are striving to achieve our goals and dreams. Personally, this scholarship was more than money to me. It was an eye-opener, a reminder that I am somebody and it was confirmation that I can succeed and conquer my dreams.”
