Two area students awarded $500 scholarship

Courtesy photo From left, NMC senior Samantha Kinkema and Cadillac senior Amanda Nixon were awarded the Cadillac WomenÕs Club Allied Health Field Scholarship. The two winners will receive $500.

Samantha Kinkema and Amanda Nixon will have a little help with college expenses in the fall.

Both students were rewarded for their hard work during their four years of high school when they were awarded the Cadillac Women's Club Allied Health Field Scholarship April 17. Kinkema will be graduating from Northern Michigan Christian while Nixon will be obtaining her diploma from Cadillac High School.

When Kinkema found out she would be receiving the scholarship, she was happy to say the least.

“It was actually kind of exciting because I didn't think I would get it,” Kinkema said.

In the fall, Kinkema will be attending State University of New York, Fredonia Campus. She will be focusing her studies in the field of communication disorders in children.

“I always wanted to work with kids and wanted to be a help to them. I was going to be an oncologist but there is a down side so I decided on speech therapy,” she said. “I can work in a school setting or out of a school setting. It is a really good field and it will always be there.”

Nixon also will be attending college in the fall and she echoed Kinkema's sentiments about getting the scholarship. Unlike Kinkema, Nixon will be staying in state for school and will be attending Alma College in the fall. Once there, she plans to begin her studies in pre-med and religious studies with the hope of starting a medical missionary career.

“I was very excited and honored to get it. I have wanted to go into the mission field and I want to go around and help people,” Nixon said. “It first started being a doctor or surgeon. Then digging more and more I found it is God's will that I go out into the mission field.”

Cadillac Woman's Club Scholarship Chairperson Margaret Himes said rewarding the money has happened in some form or another for nearly 40 years. It first started in 1967 as a way to help nursing students attend the school through Mercy Hospital. Once the program was no longer offered by the hospital it evolved into the Allied Health Field Scholarship.

Factors in the selection of Kinkema and Nixon included academic performance, realistic goal focus, demonstrated work habits, varied extra-curricular activities and perceived need.

“The grades they all had but we had some excellent reference letters. It's good to hear they are involved in church and at school. It is nice to see. This is a very positive thing,” Himes said. “We received 14 applications this year. The 12 we didn't take I thanked them and told them about the loan program. The Dolly Sprague Student Loan has been available to students since 1902.”

rcharmoli@cadillacnews.com | 775-NEWS (6397)