Scholarship recipients visit Byesville Rotary

Pictured: Chuck Fair, Byesville Rotary President; 2015 Byesville Rotary Scholarship recipients--Brett Bell, Maala Cox, Samantha Roe; and Jim Bakos, Scholarship Committee Chair.

Pictured: Chuck Fair, Byesville Rotary President; Candace Neff, 2006 Byesville Rotary Scholarship recipient; and Jim Vaughan, Speaker Host.

New Meadow Brook graduates who were awarded Byesville Rotary scholarships this year and a scholarship recipient from 2006 attended the club meeting on Tuesday. Members of the club who had not served on the scholarship interviewing committee were delighted to meet the award recipients. The club has presented over $66,000 in scholarships to Meadow Brook students since the establishment of the scholarships 29 years ago.

Jim Bakos, chair of the scholarship committee, introduced the students. Brett Ball will be attending Mount Union and plans to major in exercise science. Maala Cox will attend Muskingum University and plans to become a teacher specializing in math education. Samantha Roe is enrolled in the pre-med program at Ohio University.

Candace Neff graduated from Meadowbrook in 2006. She received a Byesville Rotary scholarship when she graduated. Club members were interested in hearing how the Byesville scholarship helped Neff pursue her education.

In high school Neff was a member of the Byesville Rotary sponsored Interact Club. She played volleyball, softball, and basketball. She received a softball scholarship, but an injury to her rotator cup put an end to her softball career and ended her scholarship. She graduated from Muskingum University in 2010 with a major in communications.

Neff is began working at AVC in February of this year .She has a job in sales and marketing. She has applied to Syracuse University graduate school to study for a Masters of Business Administration in Marketing and Advertising.

Neff indicated that all the scholarships she received were important in part because each scholarship helped reduce her final student debt. She pointed out that she graduated with a $35,000 debt. This compares well with other graduates she knows who graduated owing $80-90,000. Neff advised incoming freshmen to “Rent your books. Don’t buy them.” Renting a textbook costs about 1/3 of a book’s purchase price.

Connect with Byesville Rotary at: www.Byesvillerotary.blogspot.com or https://www.facebook.com/pages/Byesville-Rotary/256548047818283. The club meets 7:30 am, Tuesday at the Stop Nine Senior Center at 60313 (GPS use 60299) Southgate Road, Byesville. Walk-ins are welcome at the club’s meeting.