2018 Alaska Curiosity Scholarship Winner
We are excited to announce the winner of this year’s Alaska Curiosity Scholarship: Izabella Block!
Izabella’s ardor for problem solving was immediately apparent in her essay and video. They both discussed Izabellas’s passion for raising awareness about Alaska’s rural healthcare system in a creative, thoughtful manner.
Join us in congratulating Izabella! We are proud to help a young member of the Palmer community to continue her dreams of pursuing an education in medicine.
Here are a few words Izabella had to say about receiving the scholarship:
“Winning this scholarship means that I can study without worry about paying for college. I am double majoring in Biological Sciences and Anthropology, meaning I am taking more classes than normal, which adds additional costs for tuition and books. This scholarship will influence my education by allowing me to spend my time studying, rather than working, which will allow me to reach my highest potential. My career aspirations depend heavily on my college education, as I am planning on attending medical school to become a surgeon, where I hope to make a difference in rural healthcare.”
Finally, thank you to all our applicants. Please check back to apply again next year.
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"My education and career goals center around helping others. I have determined that the best way to achieve these goals is to pursue a career in the healthcare field; ideally as a surgeon. I enjoy the idea of being able to help people become healthy after injury, illness, or trauma. In order to achieve my goals, I will need to pursue extensive education.
Ever since I can remember, I have been a fan of science class, and I have sought out more ways to immerse myself in the study, such as through extracurricular activities like Science Olympiad, working for a science summer camp, and taking more science classes than required for graduation. In addition to exposing myself to science, I also introduced myself to how hospitals work by volunteering at Mat-Su Regional Medical Center (MSRMC) for almost 4 years.
I already have started the pathway to achieving these goals by switching from Colony High School to Mat-Su Middle College School, where I have spent the last two years taking college classes and I will be graduating with my Associate’s degree this year. This will cut two years from my higher education, allowing me to be able to enter my profession earlier. In the fall, I plan on attending the University of Alaska Anchorage to get a Bachelor of Science with a double major in biological sciences and anthropology, after which I will apply for the WWAMI (Wyoming, Washington, Alaska, Montana, Idaho) program for medical school. To enhance my chances to get into this selective program, I have accumulated many hours volunteering around my community.
I hope that by pursuing my education and career goals I will be able to find ways to make healthcare more available to those who need it. Last year, I had an assignment in my writing in the social and natural sciences class to write a proposal on any topic of interest, as long as it was science-based. My proposal centered around the idea of improving the healthcare system in rural Alaska. I had the idea for this proposal after my second year volunteering for a program called Skiku, when I saw how the healthcare system functions in small rural communities. I am passionate about this topic and I hope that by becoming a medical professional I can help make this proposal become a reality."
