Jasmine Demaline, a 2012 Yavapai College nursing graduate, has received a 2014 Jack Kent Cooke Foundation Undergraduate Transfer Scholarship that will provide her with up to $30,000 a year to pursue her bachelor’s degree at the university of her choice. Only 85 such scholarships were awarded this year out of 3,705 applicants.
According to the Jack Kent Cooke Foundation, scholars were selected based on high academic ability and achievements, persistence, leadership and financial need.
A resident of Prescott, Demaline has been working as a nurse educator/case manager at the Teen Outreach Pregnancy Services in Prescott Valley since 2012. Demaline said she plans to use the scholarship to pursue her bachelor’s degree in nursing at either Grand Canyon University or Northern Arizona University, both of which have accepted her for admission.
In nominating Demaline for the scholarship, YC nursing instructor Katie Windsor wrote, “Jasmine stood out among her fellow classmates as she excelled in academics, interpersonal relationships and patient care. My fellow colleagues and I were impressed by Jasmine’s dedication to her education in the face of many difficult circumstances she encountered in her personal life, rising above her situation rather than using the difficulties she faced as excuses.”
The scholarship is intended to cover a significant share of the student’s educational expenses – including tuition, living expenses, books and required fees – for the final two to three years necessary to achieve a bachelor’s degree. Awards vary by individual, based on the cost of tuition as well as other grants or scholarships he or she may receive.
Demaline, a member of Phi Kappa Theta Honor Society and the Student Nurses Association while at Yavapai College, graduated with a 4.0 GPA and was honored as the outstanding YC nursing student in 2012. She placed in the top three percent of nursing students nationally on her HESI Exit Exam.