We’d like to formally introduce our 3rd Place 2020 Scholarship Recipient, Katherine Blank. The Lisa Michelle Memorial Fund was established to assist and recognize students who have lost a parent to substance abuse. We are proud to award a $300 scholarship to Katharine this year.
Q: Tell us a bit about yourself.
My name is Katherine Blank, I am currently a rising sophomore at the historically women’s college, Agnes Scott College looking to major in Neuroscience with a minor in Artificial Intelligence. I serve as the sustainability senator for my school’s Student Government Association and the Vice President of the Bee Society, a local sustainability-based center in Decatur, Georgia. I have a passion for anything science-related as I hope to be on the forefront of neurological research.
Q: Imagine yourself 10 years from now. What goals and ambitions do you have for yourself, personally, academically, and professionally?
One of my main goals in life is stability, this has only gained more importance as the tumultuous effects of the COVID-19 Pandemic have continued to take the world by storm. I hope to have my doctorate in Neuroscience as a Medical Scientist and researcher to be a stepping stone towards many of the neurological functions of the mind that have yet to be understood or even discovered.
Q: Aside from a college degree, what do you hope to gain from your college experience?
Freedom! As much as I love and adore my family, going off to an unknown city and making my own identity for myself outside of being one of eight children in a small town was very important to me.
Q: What motivates you to continue working towards accomplishing your goals?
My family and mentors throughout school that have continued to encourage and push me through every challenge.
Q: What advice would you give to other students who have been through circumstances similar to yours?
Find your people. I found mine after being named a @horatioalgerassociation scholar. I have been introduced to thousands of scholars and distinguished Americans across the country. Losing a parent at a young age is devastating enough, losing a parent to a substance abuse adds a stigma from the decades of degradation at the hands of the opioid epidemic can be very isolating and traumatic. Having friends and a community to lift one another up is more important than ever.
The Lisa Michelle Memorial Fund 