Donors meet scholarship winners at ATC Foundation breakfast

Cara Copeland Submitted photo.

Cara Copeland arrived at Aiken Technical College in 2009 with few expectations.

She had gone through a troubled childhood, had recently been laid off from her job with a young daughter to care for and had tried to deal with low self-esteem.

At an ATC Foundation breakfast Wednesday, Copeland was among the student speakers. The breakfast is held annually, bringing scholarship benefactors and student winners together.

Copeland will graduate in May with an associate degree in criminal justice. She has received a full scholarship to attend Peru State College in Peru, Neb., and hopes to go on to graduate school after completing a bachelor's degree.

A big part of her success, Copeland said, has been the scholarships she has received. At the breakfast this week, she spoke about her personal experiences and the scholarship she received from WSI-SRS, formerly Wackenhut Services.

"It's the second time I've won it," Copeland said. "They've been very nice to me."

During the past academic year, benefactors have awarded more than $78,000 in scholarships to students, said ATC Foundation Director Mary Commons.

The largest award of $3,000 is the Ashley J. Little Scholarship, established by the family of ATC's founding president. The recipient is Amber Baker.

"The event recognizes our benefactors and gives our students a chance to meet them," Commons said. "The benefactors get to hear the students' stories, and it's always nice to put a face with a name. It's meaningful to both of them."

Sue Stutman-King established a scholarship in memory of her husband Mike King and got to meet scholarship recipient Kimberly Grissum, who is training to become a paramedic.

Mike King had worked as a paramedic in New York since the 1970s, his wife said. When they moved to Aiken, he took positions in that role in Aiken County, Saluda County and Capital City in Augusta.

During his career, he enjoyed teaching EMS and advanced life support courses.

ATC introduced a paramedic program shortly after Mike King's death. When Stutman-King gave the scholarship to Grissum, "It was bittersweet," she said. "But I felt it was the best way to honor him. I knew he would like this. It was important to meet Kimberly."

Copeland had been abused as a child and later dropped out of high school. She made a mistake as a teenager and was sentenced to nine months of confinement as a youthful offender, a record that has since been expunged.

Through that experience, however, "I saw the people who constantly came back," said Copeland. "I would later write a mission statement that included teaching life skills in a correctional facility. If people are not shown love as children, they will find it somewhere through drugs and gangs. That's what changes.

"I'm looking forward to going to Peru State," she said. "It's a good opportunity, and I'll continue to discover who I am. I made an agreement with God that I would continue with school, and so far, I keep getting scholarships."