Two UCC students honored for academic achievement

By Greg Garcia Jr. · The Mainstream
Published May 4, 2010

UCC students Jessica Just and Melissa Osborne received a combined $72,000 in financial assistance for their academic achievement.

Jessica Just has been attending UCC since 2007 and is currently working to complete her AAOT to study Business Administration.

Just received the Outstanding Student in College Algebra 2008, as well as the Laverne Murphy Scholarship, the A.B. McGuire Scholarship, the Oregon Student Scholar Award and made National Finalist in the Coca-Cola All-USA Team award.

During her time at UCC, Just has been nominated for the Outstanding Student in Math and English Literature, the Laverne Murphy Memorial Scholarship, the A.B. McGuire Scholarship, the Business Leadership Scholarship, the Oregon Community College Association Student Scholar Award, and the Coca-Cola All-USA Team.

Just’s access to several of these scholarships started with the completion of the UCC Standard or Foundation scholarship applications. The Laverne & Meryl Murphy Memorial Scholarship, for example is available to a full-time student in the Umpqua area of Douglas County, with a GPA of at least 2.0. The deadline for turning in the UCC Standard or Foundation application for this scholarship is May 3, 2010.

Just was also the recipient of one of 27 A.B. McGuire Scholarships of $1,000 which are currently available to both full and part-time UCC students. Interested students must be residents of Douglas County and have a minimum GPA of 3.0. The deadline for application is also May 3, 2010.

“These awards have enabled me to take this spring term off from work and concentrate solely on my studies. I will also be going to Pacific University this fall and I almost have the $40,000 tuition paid without taking any loans.

Because of the scholarships and honors that I received, I should be able to complete my degrees without loans and without working full-time,” said Just.

All of the UCC Standard or Foundation applications Just completed required essays except one. “The Outstanding Student didn’t require essays or anything, but I had to be nominated by a faculty member, and there was a banquet where the award was presented. The Coca-Cola and Student Scholar both had difficult applications with several essays, but neither required special projects,” said Just.

Melissa Osborne has been attending UCC since winter term 2008 and is currently working on an AAOT to study Sociology. Osborne plans on receiving a Bachelor’s in Sociology and then work on her Masters and Doctorate as well.

Osborne was nominated and also received the Jack Kent Cooke Undergraduate Transfer Scholarship, the New Century Scholar, the All-USA First Academic Team and the Oregon Community College Association Outstanding Oregon Scholar.

The Jack Kent Cooke Undergraduate Transfer Scholarship is a $30,000 award given only to 50 students nationwide, and is the largest private scholarship for two-year and community college transfer students.

The New Century Scholar award is a stipend of $2,000 awarded to only one U.S. student, the student who has the top score in the Coca-Cola All-State Community College Academic Team competition from all 50 states.

“All four of these [scholarships] included essays, letters of recommendation, activity charts and GPA requirements. As far as special projects, the New Century Scholar and USA Today had an emphasis on community and campus service,” said Osborne.

In the Associated Students of UCC student government, Osborne has held the positions of Senator, Vice President and President. “Through my positions on student government I have been able to make a marked difference for my campus community. As an organization, we have grown and have begun to focus our efforts on outreach, campus enrichment and diversity awareness,” said Osborne.

“Melissa’s activities chart was over 14 pages,” said Senator Iam Pace.

Osborne has also served as a board member for the Oregon Community College Student Association. “I was able to lobby for increased funding for community colleges and continued funding for the Oregon Opportunity Grant,” said Osborne.

As ASUCC president, Osborne has also created several campus innovations during her incumbency such as the institution of Project Campus Advocates for Nourishing Students and the study-in, which will continue on after she graduates.

“I would have to say that of all the projects I have had the opportunity to work on at UCC, I am most proud of Project C.A.N.S. Although I have had the opportunity to be involved in many meaningful projects throughout the last two years as a student at Umpqua Community College, one project stands out above the rest as being crucially beneficial to my campus community,” said Osborne.

Osborne was inspired to create the Project C.A.N.S. program from an assignment in her Social Problems and Issues class. “I was to pinpoint an issue prevalent in my community and create an action plan designed to aid in combating the issue chosen. In a community that suffers greatly from unemployment and hunger, the choice of creating a food pantry was an obvious one for me. As I did further research, the need for a food pantry on campus designed to serve the students of Umpqua Community College became apparent,” said Osborne.

“These awards will make a huge impact on my college experience. Financially speaking, my level of loan debt will be greatly reduced, which will make an impact on my life after school. As for personal benefit, I am honored and delighted to have been recognized by these organizations. However, ultimately speaking, these awards and recognition will hopefully have an impact on the UCC campus community. To me, having students see my accomplishments and possibly realizing that the same level of achievement is within their reach, would mean more than all the awards and ceremonies in the world,” added Osborne.