Three students enrolled in two different healthcare degree programs at Columbus Technical College now have several hundred additional dollars to help fund their education. Radiologic technology students Abby Dickson of Smiths Station (AL) and Craig Murphy of Ellerslie (GA) have been named winners of the Fred Aranas Memorial Scholarship while dental hygiene student Breanna Sanders of Phenix City (AL) is the latest Emile Fisher Scholar.

The Emile T. Fisher Scholarship awards $400 to a deserving student in the Columbus Technical College dental hygiene program; the scholarship may be used toward tuition and supply purposes only. The award selection is based on the students’ GPA in dental hygiene courses, an evaluation of an essay that must include the students’ commitment to the profession, future plans for practice and education, as well as financial need. When she was named the winner of the scholarship, Breanna Sanders cried tears of joy, saying the extra money will make a huge difference in her life. In her essay she wrote about her eagerness to help those who need it most by becoming the best dental hygienist she can be.

“My future plans for practice and education is to work in a public health setting where I would push, instill, and educate the importance of oral health to those that need it most, the underprivileged,” Sanders wrote. “I also plan on volunteering in the community and traveling doing missionary work across the world. Nothing brings me more joy than to help those that are in need.”

The Fred Aranas Memorial Scholarship awards $550 to two students in the radiology program. The students must be in solid academic standing and submit an essay explaining why the scholarship would be important to them. In her essay, Abby Dickson addressed the fact that living in Alabama meant no HOPE funds and having a financial helping hand through a scholarship would be a huge help in offsetting her expenses. Once she realized the rigor of the program and what it takes to be a full-time student, she had to quit her minimum wage job so she could focus solely on school. Money is tight.

“I would really love to have this scholarship because I am going and paying for school solely on student loans and it would certainly help me to not have such a large amount to pay off once I graduate,” Dickson wrote.

Abby Dickson is planning on graduating in the summer of 2016 and hopes to specialize in mammography and CT.

Fellow rad tech student Craig Murphy is a past recipient of the Fred Aranas Memorial Scholarship and can speak first hand of how much it helped. It inspired him to continue to work hard and earn good grades; Murphy holds down a 3.8 GPA.

“I am looking forward to completing my degree and getting a full-time job with a paycheck and the patient interaction,” Murphy wrote.