Oxford Women’s Club awarded a total of $3,000 in scholarships to three deserving high school students May 12 at the Oxford home of club President Sharon Czarnowski.
Oxford High School seniors Megan McCully and Megan Bono and former Crossroads for Youth School student Michael Yaldo each received $1,000 checks from the 72-year-old women’s group to put toward their future educations.
This year’s winning candidates were selected from a filed of 30 applicants.
Over the last 13 years, Women’s Club has awarded approximately $40,000 in scholarships to Oxford area students.
Fund-raising events such as the annual fall fashion show at Addison Oaks and the sale of cedar roping during the holiday season generate the club’s scholarship fund.
Here’s how each student plans to spend their scholarship money:
Bono plans to attend Michigan State University in the fall to study veterinary medicine and someday open her own practice.
‘My passion for animals has led me to the field of veterinary medicine,? she wrote in her scholarship application. ‘My life has always included caring for and enjoying pets. I was the student who offered to take the school pets, from hamsters to fish, home during school breaks. I was the kid who was asked to pet sit while neighbors went on vaction. I am able to communicate with the animals; they are comforted by me My most influencing factor occurred while volunteering at the Oakland County Animal Shelter . . . [T]he time spent with animals has been very fulfilling.?
McCully plans to attend Central Michigan University with the goal of one day becoming an elementary school teacher, a ‘vital and often overlooked? way to give back to the community.
‘I suppose my love for children and learning in general are definite reasons why I am drawn to education, although my past teachers also played great roles in my decision. All of my elementary teachers were kind, gentle and great people within,? she wrote in her scholarship application. ‘My ambition is to one day be the teacher that the students find to be friendly, trustworthy and respectable.?
Yaldo, of West Bloomfield, plans to attend a four-year university to study either architecture and/or engineering, fields where he can put his ‘powerful imagination to use.?
‘I have chosen this field of study because I was sketching a picture of the house I wanted to live in one day,? he wrote in his scholarship application. ‘It was the beginning of a blueprint of a dream of mine and I was using a talent that I was blessed with. I love to draw and I know I can do it for a living and wake up each day enjoying my work.?