Kaiser Permanente is helping Darnell Camanzo follow his family's footsteps in nursing by awarding him a scholarship to help him with his school finances. He and ten other Valley College nursing students were awarded Kaiser Permanente's Deloras Jones RN Scholarship, receiving $19,000 in scholarships ranging from $1,000 to $2,500. The scholarships were primarily based on financial need and were awarded to help students meet expenses and complete their education.
The recipients - Darnell Camanzo, Olga Chicuorka, Mayesiha Compton, Kristel Dongallo, Edward Ghoogasian, Rosavae Hipolito, Meydi Leung, Irina Manukyan, Grazina Martynovic, Alena Mikhed, and Caroline Shayestehrad - were recognized in an award ceremony last month.
"It's wonderful! We had the most of all the [community college] schools!" said Maria Pablico-Holm, assistant chair of Valley's nursing department and chair of the scholarship committee. She said Valley has such success because the students are "very proactive" at applying themselves in their studies.
The Academic Excellence award for undergraduate and graduate students required a minimum 3.8 GPA. Other categories for awards were Graduate/Doctoral Studies (registered nurses pursuing an MSN, DNSc or PhD); Underrepresented Groups in Nursing (minority and male students); and Nursing as a Second Career. Additionally, a $1,000 scholarship was awarded to a student in each nursing program affiliated with Kaiser Permanente.
"It's really great. I've actually never won anything before, so it's a great feeling," said Darnell Camanzo who received a scholarship for $2,000. He found out about the scholarship from the bulletin board managed by Professor Pablico that has numerous scholarship postings.
Grazina Martynovic also discovered the scholarship on the bulletin board, applied, and was awarded $2,000. She is pursuing nursing because she enjoys helping and taking care of people.
"I think nursing is one of the most challenging careers," she said. "You need to know a lot, and you need to be able to apply your knowledge and help all your patients."
She said the scholarship will help her with books and additional materials.
Kaiser Permanente's Deloras Jones RN Scholarship program has awarded more than $4 million to 1,942 students statewide since it was established in 2001. This year they awarded 145 scholarships totaling $256,500 to 46 Southern California colleges.
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