MS Scholarships Available

If you know a student who is living with multiple sclerosis or has a parent with MS, applications are available online for the National Multiple Sclerosis Society Scholarship Program, due by January 13, 2012.

“I don’t let multiple sclerosis define me,” says Amy Dwyer. “I don’t let it stop my goals, hopes and dreams.”

That’s the same philosophy upheld by the National Multiple Sclerosis Society Scholarship Program; in particular, that MS should not stand in the way of an education. This is why the National MS Society’s scholarship program exists — to help highly qualified students who have been diagnosed with MS or who have a parent with MS achieve their dreams of going
to college. Applications are available online.

Amy, a junior at OSU Tulsa, is one of 15 local students to receive a scholarship ranging from $1,000 to $3,000. She was awarded her first scholarship in 2009. Maintaining an academic standard and course load has allowed her to renew the scholarship each subsequent year. Amy hopes the financial assistance will continue through her master’s program in speech ­language pathology and audiology, and her doctorate in audiology.

“My goal is to work at the VA Hospital in Muskogee. It’s a way to give back to those who sacrificed,” says Amy. There is a spark in her voice as she talks about her professional future, her church activities, participation in MS fundraising efforts, and her wedding in the spring of 2013.

There is nothing that ­indicates the anxiety she felt just three years ago when the then-16-year-old was diagnosed with MS. She got up one morning while out of town and could not move her left leg. After two weeks, a local physician ­determined that this was due to either a brain tumor or a ­parasite from a recent mission trip. Immediate surgery would provide the answer. But it didn’t – there was nothing.

A week of tests at the Mayo Clinic resulted in the diagnosis of multiple sclerosis. “I was honestly glad it wasn’t cancer,” she recalls, “and that I was not going to die.” Medications began to restore her leg movement in just a few days.  

But Amy didn’t know ­anything about the incurable ­disease, and the whole idea was a bit overwhelming. Her parents took the lead to get all the ­information they could find and to get involved with the National Multiple Sclerosis Society, Oklahoma.  

Soon Amy got involved, along with her brother and fiancé. Among other activities, she has attended two of the MS Teen Retreats where young ­people from across the country share their experiences and ­provide support for one another. “MS is different for every person,” says Amy. “I learned that you don’t have to do this alone.”

Many more young people like Amy can live their lives to the fullest with a good education, with the help of National Multiple Sclerosis Society Scholarship Program. The first scholarship program was ­established in 2003, when 36 scholarships were awarded for a total of $68,000. Each year the program has continued to grow in terms of support and scholarships awarded. In 2011, more than $1 million was awarded to 639 scholars.

Applications for the coming school year are available online at www.nationalmssociety.org/scholarship. Applications and supporting materials must be submitted by January 13, 2012. Applicants must plan to attend an accredited post-secondary school for the first time and to take at least six credit hours per semester leading to a degree, license or certificate. Each scholarship awarded is based on financial need, acad-emic performance, compelling personal or family circumstances, and an applicant's essay on the impact MS has on his or her life.

More information on this program and many other MS resources are available at the local office at 4606 E. 67th St., Ste. 103 or by calling (918) 488-0882.

 

For more information, contact

National Multiple Sclerosis Society, Oklahoma

4606 E. 67th St., Ste. 103

Tulsa, OK 74136

(918) 488-0882

www.nationalmssociety.org/scholarship