Ali Meeks, a National Park College student, recently received a $1,500 scholarship from the American Association of University Women.
"It feels really good, especially because I believe in what AAUW does," Meeks said.
"They empower women and promote the education of women, and I really believe what they stand for. I'm actually a part of their group at our college. So, National Park College has a junior chapter of AAUW, and I'm actually the president. We try to promote equality for women. We do like an equal payday, women's rights days, stuff like that. So it feels very humbling, and I feel very grateful for them investing in the future education of women," she said.
The applicants went through "a process of screening," which included them turning in their resumes, an essay and their transcript.
"They go through those and really pick out the applicants that they want to see, and then they do an interview process that lasts for about a week. From the interview process, they select their finalist, and then they notify you on your email. It wasn't bad, but it was a process. I like that they do that because that's a lot different than other scholarships, and they get to know their applicants on a more personal level because they meet with them in person, they interview them, they get to actually talk to them and see how they're doing," Meeks said.
Applicants have the choice to write an essay about their educational journey or the career path that they are choosing.
"I decided to write my essay about why I chose to be a nurse, which is because of my grandmother, whenever she had breast cancer, I helped take care of her. So I chose to write about that and then I just wrote about how in the future I'd like to become a nurse practitioner, and how investing in me would mean a lot, and that I really wanted to get my Bachelors of Science in Nursing," Meeks said.
Meeks got involved in nursing because of her grandparents.
"Well, my whole life, my grandparents took care of me. So they adopted me. And I guess living with my grandparents, I realized I want to take care of other people because my grandfather had rheumatoid arthritis and my grandmother had breast cancer. I liked how they took care of me my whole life and made me feel loved, and I just wanted to make other people that may or may not have family and just help them receive the best care that they could. I felt nursing was very personal and close and intimate care with your patients, and I liked that about it," Meeks said.
Meeks will be attending Henderson State University in the fall to complete her career path as a nurse practitioner.