Four Carlow University students, first year students Madison Lampe, McKenna Lampe, and Taya McCullough, and sophomore Lucas Smith were awarded Minuteman Scholarships, a scholarship given to the highest caliber of students attending an institution of higher education by the U.S. Army Reserve and Pennsylvania Army National Guard.
Before administering the oath of enlistment to the students, Lt. Col. Faith M. Chamberlain, professor of military science for Army ROTC, said, “One advantage of joining the Reserves and National Guard is students can use their degree and pursue a civilian career, while serving their nation.”
Students receiving this scholarship obtain two, three, or four years of tuition and fees paid for the by the U.S. Army Reserve in exchange for their service on a part-time basis after graduation.
“I became interested in ROTC while I was discovering opportunities to manage my education while furthering my career,” said Smith, from Baldwin, Pa., who is majoring in chemistry and will serve in the Pennsylvania National Guard. “This definitely made my education easier to attain.”
The idea of serving their country appealed greatly to the Lampe sisters who are both nursing majors, as well as members of the Carlow Celtics softball team.
“Serving is something that appealed to me and is something I always wanted to do,” said Madison, who attended West Greene High School with her twin.
“ROTC helps build leadership skills,” said McKenna. “That’s something that will serve us well as nurses.”
Serving in the U,S. Army Reserves appealed to McCullough because she comes from a military family; her father is a veteran. “I decided to major in art therapy after learning how art therapy is used to treat patients with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) at the VA Hospital,” said McCullough, who is from Shaler Twp., Pa.
All four students were congratulated on their achievement by Carlow University President Dr. Suzanne K. Mellon at a ceremony on October 29th on the second floor of University Commons.
For more information about the University of Pittsburgh’s Army ROTC program, visit www.rotc.pitt.edu, Three Rivers Battalion on Facebook, or @threeriversbattalion on Instagram.