The Promise of the Allen Scholarship
Susanne Norgard, Executive Director, writes in the Ukiah Daily Journal about people and organizations improving lives in our community.
Pictured below: Amanda Gourley, Allen Scholarship awardee, with her mother Mary at St. Mary's College graduation.
When Oscar and Viola Allen created a scholarship fund through their trust in 1993, they envisioned giving an impetus to young women who were embarking on careers in medicine. Now, almost two decades later, the Community Foundation recently awarded eleven scholarships to women from the Ukiah community.
The Allen’s probably knew their scholarship would help promising young women, but they may have only had a glimmer of the opportunities open to women and the diversity of career choices that were reflected in this year’s scholarship recipients. In addition to women who are studying to become nurses and doctors, others have the goals of receiving their doctorates in pharmacy, physical therapy, or psychology. One young woman wants to be a nurse anesthetist, while another has the long term goal of becoming a research scientist in the field of brain chemistry – a field that has advanced considerably since the Allen’s created the fund.
Although the fields of study and career paths are more diverse today, one of the things that has not changed is the motivation for the women pursuing careers in medicine. According to Megan Barber Allende, Director of Grants and Programs at the Community Foundation, the common denominator is a passion for helping others. “One young woman summarized it beautifully when she told the scholarship committee that she was brought up in a culture where helping others was the main objective even when her family had very little.”
Susanne Norgard, Executive Director, writes in the Ukiah Daily Journal about people and organizations improving lives in our community.
Pictured below: Amanda Gourley, Allen Scholarship awardee, with her mother Mary at St. Mary's College graduation.
When Oscar and Viola Allen created a scholarship fund through their trust in 1993, they envisioned giving an impetus to young women who were embarking on careers in medicine. Now, almost two decades later, the Community Foundation recently awarded eleven scholarships to women from the Ukiah community.
The Allen’s probably knew their scholarship would help promising young women, but they may have only had a glimmer of the opportunities open to women and the diversity of career choices that were reflected in this year’s scholarship recipients. In addition to women who are studying to become nurses and doctors, others have the goals of receiving their doctorates in pharmacy, physical therapy, or psychology. One young woman wants to be a nurse anesthetist, while another has the long term goal of becoming a research scientist in the field of brain chemistry – a field that has advanced considerably since the Allen’s created the fund.
Although the fields of study and career paths are more diverse today, one of the things that has not changed is the motivation for the women pursuing careers in medicine. According to Megan Barber Allende, Director of Grants and Programs at the Community Foundation, the common denominator is a passion for helping others. “One young woman summarized it beautifully when she told the scholarship committee that she was brought up in a culture where helping others was the main objective even when her family had very little.” Megan went on to explain, “Each person we chose had volunteered in some capacity. Several of the women have been mentors or tutors; others have served those less fortunate at soup kitchens. Notably, one young woman, who began volunteering at the Ukiah Valley Medical Center Emergency Room at the age of 15, is now a Hospice volunteer, inspired by a young cancer patient who visited one of her classes.”
I was especially interested in hearing an update on Elena Jordan, a continuing scholarship recipient who I interviewed last year. Elena was on her way to Stanford, with high aspirations of becoming a doctor so that she can help people in poor countries. Megan told me that before she left she volunteered at the UVMC emergency Room and then went to Guatemala for a month to help with medical clinics. Megan reported, “Elena not only had to hike over volcanic moutons just to get to the villages where the clinics were held, she also was getting up each morning before 5:00 in order to help her host family with cleaning and making tortillas.”
The Allen’s, by setting up a scholarship fund that is now administered through the Community Foundation, committed a part of their legacy to the promise of young women entering the medical field. I am happy to report that this year’s recipients are living up to, and possibly even surpassing, the Allen’s hopes for the future.
If you want to find out how the Community Foundation works with people who are interested in contributing to future generations through the legacy of a scholarship fund, visit www.communityfound.org
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