As family lawyers, we at The Colwell Law Group, LLC understand the challenges that those in a single-family household endure. That is why we are proud to sponsor our Single Parent Scholarship to contribute towards a student’s educational goals. We want to thank all who applied for our scholarship opportunity, and wish you the best of luck in your future endeavors.
About Rivka: I live in New York’s Hudson Valley and am entering my final year of studies for a BFA in Photography at SUNY New Paltz. Having grown up in an insular religious community, completing my undergraduate degree in a creative discipline has proven to be both challenging and rewarding. While working and studying full time, I have consistently been on the Dean’s List and maintained a 4.0 GPA. My work focuses on visual storytelling that is rooted in a documentary approach, and I intend to pursue graduate studies.
Rivka’s Reaction: I was notified of receiving this scholarship at a moment when being a student and working single parent was especially demanding. I am honored to have been selected, and am deeply grateful to the team at Colwell for valuing the determination that this path requires. Thank you for this generous and meaningful award.
About Ahimsa: I am a 42-year-old single mother with a 19-year-old, a 15-year-old, and a 3-year-old. I recently graduated with my associate degree in general studies from the Community College of Allegheny County (CCAC). I earned an honors degree with honors cords and an honors medallion. Additionally, I earned a 4.0 and was on the dean’s list for my last 3 semesters. I am now enrolled at Carlow University and will begin classes there this fall. I will be able to concentrate fully on my Creative Writing major because I completed all my general education requirements at CCAC. I will use my time at Carlow to develop myself as a writer and literary artist. I aspire to write a memoir about my extraordinary life and healing journey. I have faced many obstacles in my life that have made earning a degree seem out of reach for me. I was raised as a Hare Krishna and experienced multiple types of abuse and neglect, including child rape. Overcoming this trauma has been the work of my life. I was also raised with intense views about the inferiority of women and girls. Even though I was intelligent and bookish, no one encouraged me to value or develop myself in this way. No one presented higher education as a possibility for me. I became a single mother young, so even when I became interested in a higher education, balancing work, mothering, and school was too much for me to handle. The additional financial assistance that came with the Covid pandemic helped me to make a huge leap forward in my education by allowing me to focus on being a full-time student and mother. I am excited that a bachelor’s degree, finally, feels within reach. Now that I have made it this far, I want to keep going and earn my MFA.Ahimsa’s Reaction: Like most people these days, I don’t usually answer the phone for unknown numbers, but for whatever reason, I happened to pick it up for the Colwell Law Group scholarship notification call. That call made my day! With the Covid assistance over, I will absolutely need scholarships to support my family while I am finishing my degrees. Thank you so incredibly much for awarding me this scholarship. Each step I make towards pursuing my goals feels like a triumph over my past. My next goal is to use the BFA and MFA programs in Creative Writing to write my story and share it with the world. When I write, I feel the most alive and engaged with the world. My writing is a way to empower myself. I hope that my story will resonate with others and be a torch as they make their own way towards healing from violence. This is a life that would be meaningful to me. To take all the negative that I have experienced and transform it into beauty and goodness in the world. I want to define success on my own terms. Part of that is expressing myself as the intelligent and nuanced person I know myself to be. As I excavate my voice as a woman, mother, literary artist, I become an advocate not just for myself but for all those who see themselves in me and are inspired to do the same.
About Lucy: I grew up in Orchard Park, NY which is a small suburb just south of Buffalo, NY. I am getting ready to begin my Junior year at Niagara University where I dual major in Hotel/Hospitality and Sports Management. I am an entrepreneur by nature and while going to school full time, I am getting ready to launch my mobile coffee business at local events!
Lucy’s Reaction: I was beyond thrilled when I received the notification that I had won this amazing award. It means so much to me that businesses such as yours take the time to appreciate the hard work and dedication that students are putting into accomplishing their degrees and goals in life. Your assistance will help take the stress off the financial part of earning my degree so that I may focus on my academics and future. Thank you so much!
Adonista Bob-Grey is a Rising Junior Public Relations major, Business Administration and Theatre Arts double minor, originally from Lawnside, NJ, but currently attending Howard University in Washington, DC. She is currently a Global Publicity intern with Warner Bros. Entertainment, and she has great experience in her professional endeavors, as well as on her college’s campus. She was a member of McKinsey & Company’s 2020 Freshman Diversity Leadership Academy and has consistently remained on the Dean’s List with a 4.0 cumulative GPA. She currently holds the position of Public Relations director for Spotlight Network, Howard University’s official student-led news network operating under WHUT: the first Black owned and operated public TV station in the country. Adonista has been an active member of the NAACP CEE Youth Council for 5 years, where she previously served as the 3rd Vice President. Adonista was a recipient of the President’s Volunteer Service Award after serving over 100 hours within one organization in one year, working with seniors suffering from severe Alzheimer’s and dementia. While these are only a few highlights, Adonista will always be committed to academic excellence and fulfilling Howard’s motto of truth and service.
Adonista’s Reaction: Schooling has been exceptionally difficult while trying to maneuver life with the COVID-19 pandemic. I was thrilled to learn of my selection for this honor, and I am deeply appreciative of your support. The financial assistance you provided will be of great help to me in paying my educational expenses, and it will allow me to concentrate more of my time on studying.
About Taylor: My name is Taylor and I currently attend Christopher Newport University where I will be a junior in the fall with a cumulative gpa of 3.7. I grew up in Hampton, Va which is one of the 7 cities that are a part of the Hampton Roads community alongside VA Beach (our most famous) and CNU’s very own Newport News. I am a pre-medicine student working towards my Bachelors of Science degree in neuroscience with a minor in biology. I hope to one day be an anesthesiologist or a radiologist, this way I can be of help to people across all specialists. Outside of class, I am also a research apprentice, a student ambassador, and a member of the marching band and university band.
Taylor’s Reaction: I feel very grateful and honored to have been chosen amongst all the other deserving applicants for whom I empathize. It is such a surreal feeling to tell part of my story and actually feel heard. I thank everyone at Colwell for your compassion, for it is people like you that enable the world’s brightest young minds to continue pursuing their dreams without having to stress over the monetary logistics of it all. I would also love to express my gratitude for thinking about us, all of us; the struggles of a single family household often go unheard but are very real, and it means a lot that you guys recognize and sympathize our hardship.
About Alexandra: The Colwell Law Group is pleased to announce Miss Alexandra Naughton as the winner of the The 2018 Single Parent Scholarship. We know the importance of education and are proud to offer this scholarship to someone who has shown such commitment to education. We extend to her our congratulations.
Ms. Naughton has shown academic prowess, as a member of the Rotary You Club Leadership Academy, the National Honor Society, and as a State Finalist for the Health Occupations for Students (HOSA). Her impressive 4.32 GPA is evidence of her work ethic and ambition and will serve her well in her future.
Ms. Naughton will attend the University of Iowa this Fall and plans to major in Ethics and Public Policy with an emphasis in Criminal Justice. We at the Colwell Law group are proud to extend this scholarship to her, and look forward to witnessing her success in the academic world and beyond.
Alexandra’s Reaction: On receiving the award, Miss Naughton said, “I am extremely honored to be chosen as the recipient of your 2018 Single Parent Scholarship. I am very thankful to your firm for recognizing the difficulties single-parent families face in financing the college careers of children. I am sure you had many deserving applicants, and I truly appreciate you choosing me. It is a privilege to be attending the University of Iowa this fall, and I will do my best in my classes and get involved in campus life to make the most of this experience.”
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