The financial stress of college tuition just got easier for four Columbus Technical College students. These four Radiologic Technology students are the latest recipients of the Fred Aranas Scholarship. Each of them will receive an extra $550 per semester to help pay for their education.

In order to be considered for the scholarship, each student had to submit a one-page essay explaining why the scholarship is important to them.

Sherita Thomas, one of this years’ scholarship winners wrote, “My goal is to one day be a Radiation Therapist and help save someone’s life.” Thomas lost her mother to cancer in 2011. “I have the dedication and determination to thrive and accomplish my goal. If you were to ask me why I made so many sacrifices and why I chose this career, it will be because I believe that one day I can help save someone’s life and give them hope.”

JaQuanese Douglas is another scholarship winner who lost a parent but is determined to succeed. “My daddy died of a heart attack and after his death I became really interested in the heart and how it works. One day I stumbled across a YouTube video about a radiograph of a heart and its diagnosis of pathology. It was at that moment that I knew exactly what I wanted to do,” Douglas wrote.   

In addition to writing an essay, Aranas Scholarship recipients must also maintain at least a B average and complete the Radiologic Technology degree in consecutive sequences. It’s a task scholarship winner Kylah Hector-Carter has sacrificed to accomplish. “Studying for this program can be very time consuming and you must have time for your clinicals”, she stated in her essay.

Kylah plans to graduate in 2018 and is currently holding down two jobs. She recently had to decrease her hours on both jobs in order to successfully complete the rigorous coursework. “This is a sacrifice I am willing to make to better my future; so I have been pulling through God’s grace without my usual two jobs”, Kylah wrote.

Sacrificing to accomplish your goal is something the fourth scholarship winner, Angela Hawk, knows about first hand. “After being enrolled into a radiology technology program in the past and having to withdraw from it because of family problems, I never gave up on the idea of enrolling again.” says Hawk.

After completing the program, Hawk is planning to earn a Bachelor’s Degree, while never ruling out of the possibility of becoming a Radiologist Assistant.

“Because of the personal sacrifices to attend school, my commitment and dedication to this program will always be of high standards,” Hawk wrote.