Sharay and Donna Holmes
Sharay Robinson, awarded three scholarships by our branch, graduated Magna Cum Laude with a BS in Health Care Administration from California State University, Sacramento. Sharay was attending American River College when she received the Gloria Eriksson Scholarship for 2012-2013. She then transferred to CSUS where she received the Dalma Godt Memorial for 2013-2014 and the Donn and Mary Random Memorial Scholarship for 2014-2015. She is 30 years old and a single mother of three children. She had her first child at 14. I sent her a card and letter of congratulations when she graduated on Dec. 20. Here is what she had to say in response:
“There are not enough words to express my gratitude. I feel so blessed to have had the chance to complete my dreams of earning my degree. At the time when I applied for the 2nd scholarship, I felt like giving up because it was getting extremely hard. But, once I received the letter about being awarded it gave me so much hope. I want to thank you and your family for everything. Love, Sharay & God Bless”
Thanh Ho
Thanh Ho, awarded two scholarships by our branch, graduated with a 3.6 GPA from CSUS with
a BS in Health Care Administration. She immigrated to Sacramento from Vietnam eight years ago with her mother, brother, and sister. For the last 20 years, she has been the caregiver to her mother, who is diagnosed with schizophrenia.
Thanh is currently working as an intern with Covered California. We received the following note from Thanh:
“I am so happy to have finally finished my BS degree, which has taken almost 8 years to complete. Your mental and financial support has given me more strength to overcome the many hardships and obstacles of my long journey. So please consider my achievement is also yours because, without your support, I might not have been able to finish on time. I am so proud to be a part of the Sacramento AAUW Chapter. I hope you will continue to provide support for other women who struggle to attain their educational goals while facing many difficulties in life.”
The Scholarship Committee will meet in March to select four 2016-2017 scholarship awardees. If you know any potential applicants, the application can be downloaded from the Scholarships webpage of the AAUW Sacramento website, or you can email Scholarship Co-Chair Anna Storey at mikeandamo@gmail.com with the applicant’s contact information and she will send her the announcement and application form.