By Madeline Alvarez, Sports Editor
Five incoming freshmen have been awarded the St. Newman Scholarship, which should last them through all four years of their time at Newman.
The scholarship covers the recipients’ full tuition and is the highest that Newman awards.
To be eligible, applicants needed to have a 3.9 GPA and a superscore of 29 on the ACT exam.
Assistant Director of Admissions Georgia Drewes said that this year’s applicants were also required to submit a resume and a 30 to 60 second video explaining why they wanted to come to Newman.
While 14 applicants were eligible for the award this year, only five were awarded. The winners are Joshua Dessenberger, Alexis Stallard, Hope Strickbine, Luke Sanders, and Elise Helfrich.
Dessenberger, who attends Valley Center High School, said he will be majoring in biology with a concentration in pre-med and that he looks forward to being a part of the close-knit Newman community.
Stallard goes to Kapaun Mount Carmel High School, and said she will be studying pre-vet. She described the feeling of winning the scholarship as surreal.
“It’s a blessing to receive such a highly coveted scholarship, and after all the work that I’ve put in, it’s kind of delayed gratification that I’ve been able to work so hard and now I finally got something like this,” she said.
Stallard said she is most looking forward to campus life.
“I think it’s going to be a really amazing environment to go to school in, and I’ll be able to meet a lot of amazing people, and probably some people that I already know since I’m from here,” Stallard said.
Strickbine is a homeschooled student who is planning on studying biochemistry. She said she is already taking a class at Newman and is excited to be enrolled full time.
“I love how friendly everyone is,” she said. “I’m excited to meet people who are...excited to learn for the sake of learning and to benefit themselves and others.”
Sanders, who attends Andale High School, described receiving the scholarship as an honor and a blessing.
“I’m planning on becoming a surgeon in the future, and I’m going to have a lot of medical school debt,” he said. “So having this scholarship…it’s really going to help.”
Sanders said he will be studying pre-med.
Helfrich, who is from Dodge City High School, said in a text message that she will most likely choose Newman, but that she is waiting for the results of other scholarship competitions before she makes her decision.
To keep their scholarships, Drewes said, the St. Newman Scholars will need to maintain a 3.4 GPA while at Newman and perform 32 hours of community service per semester.
PHOTO: Courtesy Photo, Newman Advancement
