A Window into How Some of Our Scholarships Come to Be…
November 25th, 2018
If you follow Ruby’s Rainbow, you probably know we give out scholarships to peeps with Down syndrome who are pursuing post-secondary education…but you may not know that each year, some individuals, families & businesses sponsor scholarships for our Rockin’ Recipients. That’s why when you check out our Recipients page and click on individual peeps’ names, you’ll see sponsor names attached to some of their awards.
Ashley McCormick, one of our 2018 Rockin’ Recipients, received this year’s Brian Dodd Scholarship Award, donated in honor of Brian Dodd, who happens to be rockin’ an extra chromosome. His incredible mama, Sara, has been a huge Ruby’s Rainbow supporter over the years, and was moved to help peeps with Down syndrome go for their college dreams! So Ashley’s mom, Christy, got to connect with Sara via email, and they were kind enough to CC me – which means I got a window into this incredible connection two mamas can share through their wonderful, inspiring kids ????????
Here’s just one highlight from Christy’s email to Sara that jumped out at me:
“One day driving down the road when she was a teenager, Ashley said, ‘Mom where am I going to college?’ Shear panic came across me as I tried to figure out how to answer. I said, ‘I don’t know’. Shortly thereafter I started doing research and found out about Clemson. I was surprised there was even one college offering a program for her let alone to find out there were others. Long story short, I sat in her high school IEP meeting and said her goal is to attend ClemsonLife and here are the requirements to apply. With the support of her teacher, Ashley worked hard for 3 years to learn to read so she could attend college.”
That just gives me shivers, y’all. What people can accomplish when they have a concrete goal and people who love & believe in them…it’s amazing and it makes my ❤️ happy every time I get a little window into things like this.
Ashley’s having a rockin’ first year at Clemson – check out these amazing pics of her fall semester!
#RockinRecipientsRule #TheLuckyFew #NoLimits #NothingDownAboutIt
