A pair of Drury students shared a $2,000 grant from the Green County Medical Society, a grant which was made possible by the Paul Carrick Trust and awarded during the summer.
Juniors Owen Cornell (Bolivar, Missouri) and Kaiden Kristek (Springfield, Missouri) each received $1,000. Cornell (Biology) and Kristek (Biochemistry) were told about the opportunity by Dr. Bethany Scanlon, Instructor of Biology & Director of Pre-Health Science Programs at Drury.
“Dr. Scanlon informed me about this opportunity during my freshman year but other students were selected, “ Cornell said. “When I learned about it again during my sophomore year, I decided to apply. It seemed like a great opportunity.”
Both Cornell and Kristek spoke about ways in which the scholarship will help them as they move toward their ultimate goal of attending medical school.
“Grants like these help students who are very involved on campus and may not have an abundance of time to work on the chance to apply to medical school,” Kristek said. “It allows me to do what I am passionate about and worry less about the costs associated with applying to medical school.”
Cornell concurred.
“This grant puts me one step closer to my career goals by relieving some of the financial burden of pursuing a degree in biology,” he said. “It will free up time that otherwise would have been spent finding other ways to pay for school.”
Cornell has plans to become a physician assistant, while Kristek is still choosing his post-graduate path.
“Our students often have to overcome significant obstacles in this already arduous journey, and sometimes those obstacles are financial in nature,” Scanlon said. “Grants like the ones provided by the Paul Carrick Trust are important because not only do they open up new options for the students but because it says to our students, ‘I see you. I believe in you. You’re worth investing in.’”
Last year, Drury students Aubrey Foster and Kyla Clubb were recipients of the Paul Carrick Trust grant. Clubb is currently in the Biomedical master’s program at Missouri State University, while Foster is in the process of applying to optometry schools.