Mayo Clinic gives 20 area students health scholarships

Monday, May 12, 2003

JACKSONVILLE, Fla., May 7, 2003 — Tonight Mayo Clinic will award 20 area students $1,000 scholarships to go towards college level education in a health care field. The Leo F. Black Health Careers Scholarship will go to 15 graduating high school seniors. An additional five college students will receive a St. Luke's Hospital Continuing Health Careers Scholarship.

All Leo F. Black Health Careers Scholarship recipients have a grade point average of 2.5 or above, received a recommendation from their high school counselor, submitted a page essay, and plan to pursue a career in health care. The St. Luke's Hospital Continuing Health Careers Scholarship recipients have completed at least one year of college, have a grade point average of at least 2.5 and are previous recipients of the Leo F. Black Health Careers Scholarship.

Marleatia Bess, an 18-year-old senior at A. Philip Randolph Academy, is one of this year's Leo F. Black Health Careers Scholarship recipients. Bess will be entering the two-year nursing program at Florida Community College at Jacksonville (FCCJ). After finishing the FCCJ program, she plans to pursue a bachelor's in nursing degree from Florida A&M University.

Bess's mother and a grandmother were nurses. Bess says she always wanted a career in health care, but it wasn't until after an experience in her junior year at A. Philip Randolph that she decided to definitely become a nurse. She saw how poorly a nursing home patient was treated and decided if she could ever make a difference, she would. "I'll treat people the way I'd want to be treated, or the way I'd want my parents treated," she says.

Bess participates in a TV show called Ultimate Choice, which draws life analogies through extreme sports. She participated in the Youth Leadership Program while at A. Philip Randolph, and she's a member and volunteer with the YMCA Black Achievers.

In this its 11th year, 61 students applied for the Leo F. Black Health Careers Scholarship. To date, more than $165,000 has been awarded.

This year's Leo F. Black Health Careers Scholarship recipients are:

• Marleatia Bess, A. Philip Randolph Academy
• Natasha Brown, Stanton College Preparatory School
• Yamicia Connor, Stanton College Preparatory School
• Sara Croft, Fernandina Beach High School
• Andrew Garrett, St. Augustine High School
• Robert Geissler, Allen D. Nease High School
• Eltoya Humphries, William M. Raines High School
• Melinda Jimenez, Stanton College Preparatory School
• Enjoli Jones, Jean Ribault Senior High School
• Edward Lewis, III, Fernandina Beach High School
• Tyara McCray, Clay High School
• Adam Rafi, St. Augustine High School
• Christina Vaughn, Clay High School
• Andre Washington, Jean Ribault Senior High School
• April Williams, Clay High School

This year's St. Luke's Hospital continuing health careers scholarship recipients are:

• Sean Altenbach, University of Florida
• Latasha Anderson, University of Central Florida
• Stephanie Bourque, University of North Florida
• Nakia Hugger, Florida A&M University
• Angela LaTour, University of Florida

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