2019 Scholarship Gala

I think scholarships impact the legacy that is UNG. When I got the acceptance

letter back and it said you're good to come to University of North Georgia I was

happy as can be.

I started playing soccer when I was three, my parents just threw

me into it and I fell in love with it. My senior year in high school I got hurt so I didn't have

very many offers but Chris, the coach up here reached out, and he's like "Hey, come

on up for a visit." And so coming here it's been incredible.

I came to UNG mainly because of basketball. I thought that the atmosphere

will help me excel as a player. My teammates are like my best friends.

Me and my family we went across and toured all these different schools and I just

remember coming here and everybody here was just so friendly and it was just a

really inviting atmosphere.

It's been really good it's taught me a lot and

every year I've had a different role on the team and I've learned a lot about

myself in those roles.

It's been a great time -- a lot of amazing people.

Competitively, I've been shooting since high school. It's Olympic-style target

shooting. Most people think you're shooting big guns, firing away, having fun;

with us it's more of a precision it's an art.

My major is pre-med biology. I want

to be an orthopedic surgeon. Some of the injuries that I've seen firsthand helped

me prepare to actually help people fix those broken bones.

I'm a chemistry major with a business minor and a leadership certificate. My mentor that I

was reaching out to is Colonel Palmer. He always talks about the spirit of UNG and

integrity and how to really live that out in everything that you do.

I'm a mathematics major. When I got to calculus 2, I was like this is a little

challenging, but this is actually a lot of fun.

I want to go to grad school and

get a masters in sports management and sports administration and be a grad

assistant in an athletic department, from there actually getting a job.

I think I want to join the Department of Defense and be a

chemist for them but I know at some point I want to go back and get involved

in public health.

Scholarships create more opportunities

for people. You're not just representing yourself, you're representing those

organizations that are sponsoring them.

If you talk to all the athletes, the majority

of them are on scholarship. It goes a long way for us because like I said it

helps you focus just on school and you can really just be the best version of

yourself.

I'm UNG Dahlonega's representative on

Student Advisory Council. The scholarships that I've received have

allowed me to do the leadership positions. I never had to take on a

full-time job, so that really allowed me to choose a major of my dreams. But

without those scholarships I definitely couldn't have studied as much to have as

good of grades and wouldn't have been able to take on as many leadership

responsibilities as I had wanted to. I definitely think it's revolutionized my

time here.

The scholarships definitely allow me to focus more on school. I don't

believe that I would be able to afford college if I didn't have these

scholarships.

It would be a lot harder if you take out more student loans and

you're further in debt but since I want to go to grad school that would put me

even further behind, so it helps me set up for the future a lot better.

No matter what, even a dollar from somebody -- go and donate, that creates more scholarships.

I want to just say "thank you," they've impacted my time here beyond anybody.

I really just like to thank them for this opportunity. I know there are

many students like me who wouldn't be able to afford school without their aid.

I definitely think that the scholarships have allowed me to just grow as a person

because there are some things you can't do by yourself and so with that help I

think it's really gotten me where I am today.