It’s on to bigger dreams for biology graduates Briona Perry and Elle Fitzpatrick. As the first two students to graduate from the University of Missouri–St. Louis’ Opportunity Scholars Program, they exemplify how access to education transforms lives and offers career growth and opportunity for students who might not otherwise have been able to afford college.
Both Perry and Fitzpatrick had a grandparent in need of medical care that tied up family finances. The scholarship offered each of them four years at UMSL, all expenses paid (tuition, fees, housing, a meal plan, books and a laptop), as long as they maintained high academic standing.
The Opportunity Scholars Program began in 2011 through a partnership with UMSL and Emerson, which contributed $1.65 million in funding and internships. AT&T, Bellwether Foundation, Energizer, Enterprise, Wells Fargo and David and Thelma Steward of World Wide Technology provided additional support.
Now, the two young women begin their career paths – pharmacy and forensics – with excellent academic records, numerous extracurricular leadership experiences and zero debt.
Briona Perry has reached checkpoint No. 2.
“No. 1 was graduating from high school,” she said, “No. 2 from college and No. 3 is four years from now when I graduate from pharmacy school.”
This August, she will start a four-year doctoral pharmacy program at Rosalind Franklin University of Medicine and Science in the Chicago area.
Perry set herself on the path to become her neighborhood’s pharmacist when she was a senior in high school and became a pharmacy technician at Walgreens, a job she maintained throughout her undergraduate career at UMSL. She chose to study pharmacy after witnessing her grandmother’s illness in 2005.
Reviewed 2015-06-03