Wednesday night was a special evening for Coronado Soroptimists and guests from the community as they honored this year’s recipients of the Live Your Dream (LYD) awards. The LYD awards are the flagship scholarships for Soroptimist International, a global volunteer organization comprised of women working to improve the lives of women and girls through education, empowerment, and advocacy. These scholarships are awarded annually to individuals who have faced significant challenges while successfully pursuing a two or four-year degree. All three of Wednesday night’s awardees are the sole support of their families and attend Southwestern College.
Eternity, this year’s primary awardee and the recipient of a $5,000 scholarship, is the mother of four young children. She is working toward an Associate’s degree in nursing with the goal of transferring to a four-year school to complete a BS in Nursing. Eternity was raised by her grandparents before marrying at a very young age and then enduring a nine-year relationship fraught with domestic violence. She had been working full-time as a CNA/RNA, but was forced to quit during her recent high-risk pregnancy requiring multiple hospitalizations. She is still not well enough to return to work, and as a consequence, she and her children are currently homeless and living in hotel rooms and shelters. Eternity’s counselor at Southwestern describes her as “resilient and even with having a newborn, she is still taking full-time classes because she is incredibly determined.” As the primary awardee, Eternity’s file will advance to the Soroptimist regional level and be considered for additional scholarship opportunities.
This year’s $2,500 LYD scholarship went to Virginia, a mother of three who is studying psychology as she completes her associates degree. She plans to continue her education and earn advanced degrees in order to be certified as a marriage and family therapist specializing in trauma cases. Virginia’s interest in working with trauma victims arises from her own experience, as she was the victim of an extremely severe physical attack. She barely survived and still has a range of disabilities resulting from the assault.
The $1,500 LYD scholarship was awarded to Donna, a mother of two majoring in social work and human services. She hopes to transfer to a four-year program and become a social worker focused on substance abuse cases. Donna was forced out of her dysfunctional childhood home at the age of thirteen and quickly succumbed to the ravages of drugs and life on the streets in addition to surviving marriage to an abusive partner. Donna has remained sober for the past three years and now leads counseling sessions at her church in Imperial Beach.
Coronado Soroptimist are grateful for the opportunity to salute these determined mothers and provide some support as they struggle to create a better life for themselves and their children. The LYD scholarships are made possible by generous donations from club members and from the many community members who contributed to last spring’s Art of Giving fundraising campaign. The Soroptimists are also indebted to non-members Katy Green and Jan Kass who have read all the applications and selected the recipients for each of the past fifteen years. Finally, Cathy McJannet, SIC’s scholarship chair, deserves recognition for the many hours she invested in outreach and information sessions on local community college campuses.
