By Staff
The Inspiration Scholarship Foundation awarded the first Mary J. Wilkinson Scholarship to Diane Armstrong of Dowagiac.
Armstrong, a single parent of three, is in her first year at Southwestern Michigan College and is pursuing a degree in medical assisting.
Armstrong was selected by the foundation's board of directors as the first recipient of the Mary J. Wilkinson Scholarship because her application essay conveyed a vivid picture of how she embodied the spirit of the scholarship.
The Mary J. Wilkinson Scholarship was created by the foundation in the spring of 2008 and is named in honor of Mary Wilkinson, a lifelong resident of Dowagiac who has encouraged numerous young individuals to pursue a college degree.
The scholarship is to be given out each year to a single parent pursuing a college or graduate degree to inspire his or her children and who demonstrates financial need.
In her application essay, Armstrong related how she had worked at Ameriwood until it downsized and had to take a job at Harding's Market to support her children.
Faced with a lower salary, Armstrong decided to obtain a college degree so she could better support her children.
Rather than make her degree about herself, though, Armstrong has chosen to use her degree to inspire her children to also seek college degrees.
She takes her children, Jordan and Destiny, to the college library with her to get them excited about homework and the college atmosphere. She also includes them in her homework time.
True to form, Armstrong even brought her children with her to the SMC library when she was awarded the scholarship by the foundation.
It was very evident from the look on her children's faces that they were not only very proud of their mom, but very excited about eventually going to college someday, too.
The foundation hosted the murder mystery dessert theater, "Dial C for Chaos in Cass County," at SMC this past October to raise money to support the Mary J. Wilkinson Scholarship Fund.
Local residents volunteered their time to put on the play and numerous local businesses covered the expenses of the play so that all of the money raised from ticket sales could go to support the scholarship fund.
The play was performed before a packed house of 100 in the Mathews Conference Center and, as a result of the play's success, the foundation was able to provide a $1,000 scholarship to a single parent attending Southwestern Michigan College for what is to become the annual Mary J. Wilkinson Scholarship.
The foundation would like to thank all of those who helped with the murder mystery theater and made it possible for it to award its first scholarship. If you are interested in more information on The Inspiration Scholarship Foundation, you can e-mail President Sarah Wilkinson at sarah@daretoinspire.org.