Scholarships Provide Living Legacies While Helping Students

Dr. Karin Hilgersom speaks at the Legacy Scholarship Dinner.
Jeannie Byassee

The TMCC Foundation works with students, their families, alumni, and community members to establish scholarships to honor the memory of their loved ones while helping our students to reach their academic and professional goals. Memorial scholarships honor the legacy of a family member or friend while providing financial assistance to a deserving TMCC student.

TMCC will offer several new memorial scholarship opportunities for students starting in Fall 2020. The application for all TMCC Scholarships opens on Jan. 1. Students must complete their scholarship applications by March 1, 2020.

The following is a list of new memorial scholarships.

The Amy Holland Memorial Nursing Scholarship 

This scholarship was established to honor Amy Holland, a marathon runner and competitive skier who was admitted to TMCC’s nursing program only to receive a diagnosis of cancer months later. This scholarship will be awarded in Holland’s memory to a student enrolled in the Nursing Program at TMCC. The Holland family offered these words in regard to the Amy Holland Memorial Nursing Scholarship: “At age 43, Amy was thrilled to be accepted into the nursing program at TMCC, which occurred just a few weeks before her glioblastoma diagnosis. Since she lost her battle with cancer and was unable to fulfill that dream, our family established the Amy Holland Memorial Nursing Scholarship so that we can help other aspiring nurses achieve theirs.”

The Patrick Smith Memorial Scholarship

This scholarship honors the life of Patrick Smith who was the Chief Executive Officer of REMSA (Regional Emergency Medical Services Authority) and Care Flight for over 20 years. Smith tragically passed away in June of 2019, and his family established the Patrick Smith Memorial Scholarship to honor his memory and support a student studying to be an Emergency Medical Technician (EMT) or Paramedic. “Patrick Smith held various roles in the EMS world during his career,” said the Smith Family. “He strongly believed that establishing working EMS systems throughout the country would result in better health care delivery for the community. We chose to set up a scholarship at TMCC to honor him because we wanted to be able to help someone in the community who would also have a future impact in the EMS community.” 

The Josh Beal Memorial Scholarship

On Nov. 7, TMCC hosted a Spartan Pledge event, where donations were accepted for the Josh Beal Memorial Scholarship. The Spartan Pledge is a nationwide movement designed to help veterans live with purpose and to reduce the number of veteran suicides while making a positive impact on communities. 

Josh Beal was a TMCC student and a veteran who lost his life to suicide in 2015. Beal joined the Marines at age 17 and became a warfare leader, paratrooper, and EMT, surviving four tours until a traumatic brain injury precipitated his discharge him from service.  At the time of his death at age 28, Josh was only a few credits away from graduating, and was awarded TMCC’s first posthumous degree in 2016.   

Scholarship Applications Open Jan. 1

All current and prospective students are encouraged to complete the TMCC Foundation scholarship application.  The application will open on January 1 with the priority deadline on March 1. Submitted applications are reviewed and awarded based on the scholarship’s criteria, an applicant’s grades and financial need.  In the 2019–20 academic year, the Foundation has awarded 578 scholarships, with $636,585 awarded to deserving students. Scholarship donors and recipients are honored each year in October at TMCC Foundation’s Annual Scholarship Legacy Dinner.

Additional information on establishing a memorial scholarship or to make a donation to the scholarships above or any scholarship fund, please contact the TMCC Foundation at 775-674-7648.