(Ashley Judd 1)
A blessing. Life changing. Amazing. The opportunity of a lifetime. Ask a Robinson Scholar or their parents to describe the Robinson Scholars Program and that is what you hear.
(Epperson Parent 1)
I came from one of ten children. It was very difficult for any of us to advance our education. It was hard enough to get through high school. We look at this opportunity as a blessing for our family as well as Eastern Kentucky because we know Tara is going to give everything she has to the program and she is going to bring it back home. Tara is going to be the first one from our family to graduate.
(S. Holiday parent 4)
Well I think it would be a terrible terrible shame if that happened. I think that there is so much talent in so many children who have so much potential in Eastern Kentucky that it would be such a shame that if these children who maybe didn’t have everything that they needed in life or you know to be able to get to college a way that it would be a shame if there wasn’t a program like Robinson Scholar that nurtures them from the time that they are in the eighth grade all the way through high school because those are such difficult years for children growing up and you know you can win or lose a child in that particular time in their life and I think to get a child through that and then on into college and then be away from home where there are so many other things you know going on and to keep them focused I mean we would lose a lot of kids in Eastern Kentucky if it weren’t for a program like Robinson Scholars.
(Commentator 1)
If a journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step, the Robinson Scholars Program is the door through which many Eastern Kentucky students take that step. The Robinson Scholars Program serves 1st generation college bound and college students who have demonstrated the potential to succeed that could face challenges that would keep them from reaching their dreams. The Program provides academic support, social mentoring, and college preparations. The Program helps students take that first step in this very important journey. The Program seeks to connect students to their schools, to their communities, to their region, to the world. Scholars learn they can make a difference.
(LeMaster 1)
The preparation that the scholarship put into me going to college is nothing compared to the preparation they’ve put into me going into the world. Like I said, they have really helped me develop those skills that I need to be a successful member of society. They’ve really helped me to be able to think critically on my own, to be able to make my own opinions, to see my culture and my world and other cultures in a different light. We have Robinson Scholar responsibilities and we have a seminar program now which is wonderful where we are required to be involved in our communities through community service and take advantage of resources on campus and explore fields of interest.
(Wilson 1)
The Robinson Scholars Program opens doors like by being there they open the doors for students who have the talent and drive to be successful and really give back to your community or another community.
(Epperson Student 1)
The Program really instills in you that you can do whatever you want to do. I definitely decided I wanted to go into the medical field. They sent me all kinds of papers on every medical job available trying to help me decide what to do and I am definitely determined to do this.
(Commentator 2)
With the Robinson Scholars Program, today and for generations to come the future is made brighter not only for the scholars but also for their families and their communities.
(Epperson Parent 2)
There is a lot of wonderful people and lot of brilliant young minds in Eastern Kentucky who never had an opportunity and this is a dream of a lifetime.
(Saylor 1)
They said I see potential in you and you can be something more than maybe those around you. You are not going to have to settle for less because you cannot afford or because you went to a small town high school in a rural area that may not have a whole lot to offer you.
(Holiday student 1)
We are the type of students who need to go back to our small towns and give back all the things, skills and knowledge that we have gained while we were in college. We have become successful individuals and now we can go back to our hometowns which are underserved and underprivileged and really use those wonderful gifts we have been given to make it a better place.
(LeMaster 2)
Every person makes a difference; one person can make a difference. And so to have all these people from this region who care about this region who love their homes and want to help their homes and want to go back with what they have gained here is essential.
(Saylor 2)
If the program’s not there those are an opportunity that’s going down the drain. Those are people’s lives that are going to be affected because not only are the affecting the lives of the scholars and their families and their futures and their future families their affecting the entire community because I’m going to be a physician but I’m going back home to be a physician and who knows who people that I might help or who other scholars might help.
(Epperson Parent 3)
I think years down the road when they go back and review the program “it worked, how this young group of people have inspired and not only that but will bring so much back to Eastern Kentucky, and we need it here.
(Ashley Judd 2)
The Robinson Scholars Program changes lives and opens doors. It empowers Scholars to complete degrees from UK and make a positive impact in their world. As a contributor to the Robinson Scholars Program, you can changes the lives of deserving eastern Kentucky youth. Your donation helps sustain the scholarship and support resources that make this program so unique and so successful. Please consider making a gift to the Robinson Scholars Program. It is a great investment in our most precious natural resource — our youth and their future.
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