Quarterly Newsletter Issue 7, May 2023
Hello Family and Friends!
End of the school year, vacation plans, flowers blooming, trees turning green... It’s clearly time to announce The Paul Nelson Randolph Abundant Life Scholarship Foundation's 2023-24 scholarship recipients! Once again, we had a long list of stellar applicants, and making final selections was tough. However, we persevered and are happy to share more about our recipients below.
We’ve also been planning our next fundraiser, the 2nd Annual Paul’s Move-A-Thon: Walk, Run, Ride and Roll! This year’s event will take place during the month of June, and conclude with our Unity Day on July 1. See additional details below. We hope you’ll join us.
Introducing Our 2023-24 PNR ALSF Scholarship Recipients
We are extremely excited to share our outstanding scholarship recipients for the 2023-24 school year! We are also thrilled to advise that because of your continued support and generosity, we were able to award a total of $33,000. These scholarships will support seven (7) students representing our target referral sources that were dear to Paul’s heart: Notre Dame Academy in Toledo, Ohio; Saint Joseph Academy in Cleveland, Ohio; and The City of Life Christian Church in St. Louis, Missouri.
We congratulate and wish our 2023–24 PNR ALSF recipients well in their pursuit of higher education and a truly abundant life! We would also like to thank all the applicants who took the time to fill out our application, collect reference letters, and submit their materials. As our foundation continues to grow, we hope to be able to increase the number of awards given.
We now present our 2023–24 PNR ALSF scholarship recipients.
Mallika (Mollie) Badoni
Affiliation: Notre Dame Academy
Scholarship amount: $5,000
School: Loyola University of Chicago
Major: Sociology/Environmental Sustainability
Mollie’s Journey: “The next step in my journey of service would be to achieve justice for my community by challenging social structures and institutions as a civil rights attorney, enabling all to live in equal abundance. Everyone deserves to have their inherent human rights recognized, and to achieve this necessary recognition is to achieve an abundant life.”
From Amy Johns, NDA Music and Department Chair: “In the past six years, I have observed Mollie grow into the kind of leader the world needs. She teaches, encourages, and assists from the back, never drawing attention to herself, but always getting things done for the betterment of the community.”
Alphonsine Camara
Affiliation: Saint Joseph Academy
Scholarship amount: $5,000
School: Bowling Green State University
Major: Nursing
Alphonsine is pursuing her dream: “I am from Guinea Conakry and I moved [to the U.S.] with my family in May 2019. Since I was a kid, I have always wanted to be a nurse. My dad was a medical doctor, and I can say this was my very first inspiration to dream of working in the medical field. As I grew up, my country’s dire health system condition was added to the reasons why I want to be a nurse.” Alphonsine also shared, her dad (her inspiration) passed away in January of 2022 and she aspires to return to her native country before she retires to do volunteer work.
From: Courtney Koz, SJA Student Support Services, "[Alphonsine] hardly spoke any English and neither did her family. I was her resource at school and unfortunately am not bilingual. Alphonsine jumped in with both feet. Over the last four years, I have witnessed her hard work, tenacity, and gratitude. When COVID hit, I knew it would be difficult to navigate an online education with little English but when I had a chance to work with her again, I was astounded. She not only navigated her way through an online education. but she challenged herself with honors courses. She is every teacher’s dream student and there is no doubt that she will make her mark in this world.” BTW – Alphonsine now speaks 4 languages fluently, including English.
Christian Coleman
Affiliation: The City of Life Christian Church (TCOLCC)
Scholarship amount: $3,000
School: St. Charles Community College
Major: Business Administration (Finance Management)
Christian’s Main Goal: “Living my life more abundantly means to take every moment and live it as if it were my last and make the best of it, no matter how difficult things are… My main goal above all is to serve and change the lives of people I have the opportunity to encounter on a daily [basis]. Big or small – if I can change someone’s life with even a smile, then I’ll be satisfied and know I’ve been on the right path…”
From Pastor Joe L. Middleton, TCOLCC: “[Christian] started working as a bank teller, using this time to seek God for finding her real purpose and passion in life… God has positioned her to be in this place to guide and encourage those whose lives she touches… to choose the path that leads to a better life so that they too can be fruitful in serving and helping others.”
Jaylen Greenlee
Affiliation: TCOLCC
Scholarship amount: $5,000
School: Southeast Missouri State University
Major: Biomedical Science (3rd year Pre-Med Track)
A few of Jaylen’s aspirations, “I will pursue my dream of becoming an orthopedic surgeon. I will begin my career as a doctor while also working to help find vaccinations and cures to diseases such as the coronavirus. I will establish a youth medical program in the city for African American children interested in becoming doctors and nurses. All of this is impossible without the help of God, but I know he is with me.”
From Timothy W. Jennings, DO, “Jaylen has spent multiple days in my family practice office as well as my research office. Jaylen is very knowledgeable with his tremendous personality and attitude. I was quite impressed with his ability to establish immediate rapport with my patients and staff. I look forward to mentoring him throughout his educational career.
Jamese Moore
Affiliation: TCOLCC
Scholarship amount: $4,000
School attending: The University of Missouri - St. Louis
Major: Social Work (Pediatric Care)
Jamese proudly shared: “I want to help other people. Advancing my medical, social worker career will allow me to comfort parents and children with loving and caring resources to help them get through difficult times. I want to give back and speak for those who could not speak for themselves.”
From Camille McKinney, RN MSN Practice Manager III, Mercy Kids: “Jamese is the “go-to” leader when the manager is out of the office. She has the knowledge base and critical thinking skills to fill in the position and she does so with ease and grace.
Tamerah Sistunk
Affiliation: TCOLCC
Scholarship amount: $4,000
School: Guarded Heart Bible College
Major: Christian Counseling (masters level)
Tamareh’s vision: ”Living my life more abundantly means walking in the calling and gift that God has specifically set for me during this lifetime. As a young girl, I always had the desire to work in the mental health field. Experiencing traumatic events at such a young age gave me a passion to want to help those who were suffering in whatever capacity that I could by using Godly core principles as my foundation. My overall goal is to obtain a master’s degree in Christian Counseling. I will incorporate my Christian faith with the educational teachings of psychology to help address mental health, as well as help my personal relationships and the people around me."
From: Dr. Patricia Moore, Dean GHBC, “Tamerah has been a student at Guarded Heart Bible College (GHBC) since its inception (2013). Tamerah has earned her undergraduate degree in biblical studies, graduating Cum Laude in her graduating class. She has that combination of a positive attitude and the belief that she can always improve, that’s rare in most, but essential to the learning process. Tamerah is, without a doubt, one of the strongest students I have had the pleasure of teaching at GHBC. Her character is seen in how she cares for others, in her church, school, family and most of all her love of God.”
Claire Tam
Notre Dame Academy
Scholarship amount: $7,000
School: The University of Notre Dame
Major: Exploratory Studies
From Claire’s Determination: “During seventh grade, my dad passed suddenly in a car accident, and my family had to rebuild our lives. I coped with it by writing a novel, which I started when I was 15. I think that another big step in my journey to recovery would be to publish my story, even if it is technically through the lenses of someone else. This leads to an important goal that I believe everyone else should have, too: to stay mentally healthy and as happy as we can throughout [my] life.
From: Dr. Laura Melton, Bowling Green State University, Professor of Piano, “...I share this personal story about Claire because of the young woman she has become - poised, ambitious, and capable of juggling a multitude of pursuits and activities with persistence and quiet determination.”
We congratulate and wish our 2022–23 recipients well in their pursuit of higher education and a truly abundant life! To support our future scholarship efforts, please visit pnrabundantlife.org/donate.