David L. Burns Memorial Scholarship

Funded by
$2,500
1 winner$2,500
Awarded
Application Deadline
Jan 1, 2024
Winners Announced
Feb 1, 2024
Education Level
Undergraduate
Recent Bold.org scholarship winners
Eligibility Requirements
Education Level:
Undergraduate
State:
Missouri
Major:
Nursing, counseling, mental health, social work, etc.
Education Level:
State:
Major:
Undergraduate
Missouri
Nursing, counseling, mental health, social work, etc.

David L. Burns was a beloved son who died of an opioid overdose in December of 2019. 

As a way of honoring the memory of David L. Burns, this scholarship will support students in Missouri who seek to help people who have struggled with addiction. Students who are entering a field that can help people in their times of crisis can apply. These fields could be nursing, counseling/mental health, social work, or other similar careers.

The David L. Burns Memorial Scholarship is designed to support anyone who has shown a desire and ability to help others and make other people’s lives better.

Undergraduate students from Missouri are eligible to apply if their career seeks to help others who have battled addiction.

In your application, write about why you find it important to help those who are struggling with addiction and how you will use your career to do so.

Selection Criteria:
Ambition, Need, Boldest Bold.org Profile
Published August 20, 2023
$2,500
1 winner$2,500
Awarded
Application Deadline
Jan 1, 2024
Winners Announced
Feb 1, 2024
Education Level
Undergraduate
Recent Bold.org scholarship winners
Essay Topic

Why is it important to you to help others who are struggling with addiction? How will you use your career to do so?

400–600 words

Winning Application

Mason Taylor
Missouri Western State UniversitySaint Joseph, MO
I have dealt with addiction my entire life. Most of my cousins are on the streets, homeless, addicted to heroin, methamphetamine, crack cocaine, opioids, or some combination of these and more. I have watched them from a young child turn from family members I relished memories of playing the GameBoy and watching cartoons on our grandparent's couch after school into ghosts of what they once were. They all started families young with other people addicted to drugs and this led to them throwing away the lives of a future generation of children who won’t know true innocence or a real family. When I was two years old my parents divorced and my brother and myself were in between split households for the majority of our childhood. My father was an abusive alcoholic and continued to be until I was seventeen years old and when he kicked me out of the house one night after he came home from the bar intoxicated. I jumped from couch to couch until I landed at my mother's for the remainder of my short-lived, covid plagued, senior year. I raised myself and built up my life from rock bottom. My interest in health care started when I watched my mother start her dream as a nurse at forty-five years old after she retired from the Army. I saw what she did and listened to the stories she told me about her experiences joining the medical field. I started working at Mosaic Life Care about a year and a half ago as a PCA. Working virtually on the bottom of the food chain I have an appreciation for what LPNs, RNs, MDs, Analysts, Financial services, and various other positions I work with on a day-to-day basis that makes Mosaic, as a whole, run smoothly and efficiently. My position has lent me the opportunity to see quite a lot on the floor as Saint Joseph has a large percentage of drug addiction and drug-related crimes. As a person who has been around and has personally experienced addiction of all kinds I always strive to talk to my patients who fall in this category and connect with them on a personal and professional basis. With coming into the nursing program I look to the future on how I can best guide and help people who don’t have a support system or who may have one but just need a helping hand and ears to listen. I am going to use my degree after I graduate as a tool to use what I have to help people who oftentimes think they don’t need help or who can’t help themselves as they are blinded by the pains and pleasures of addiction. This essay is not written with just the purpose of receiving a scholarship, I would rather speak from the heart than speak as a robot who just wants someone to pay for their college. Regardless of whether I am chosen as the winner or not I want to thank you for the opportunity of consideration. This topic is near and dear to my self and who I am today and I will continue to currently help others in all walks of life and look forward to having my nursing degree so I can help patients with addiction in much more depth than before.
Nejira Cavcic
University of Missouri-ColumbiaSt. Louis, MO

FAQ

When is the scholarship application deadline?

The application deadline is Jan 1, 2024. Winners will be announced on Feb 1, 2024.

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