Austin Booth, who graduated from West Columbus High School, and Helen Rippy Roehner, who graduated from North Brunswick High School, were the recipients of college scholarships from BEMC last spring. We thought we’d check in with them.

Austin Booth

Helen Rippy-Roehner

“I’m at NC State, working towards a major in Civil Engineering,” Austin reports. “Classes are really interesting, and not unexpectedly, it requires a lot of studying to stay on top of things. Coming here from a small town was a little bit of a culture shock, but it’s been easy to make friends, and everyone wants to help each other, kind of like a big family.

When we’re not studying my friends and I play intermural soccer, which really helps to blow off stress and go to Bible study. In my future career, I want to be involved in big construction projects, making a difference in how people move around and work. I want to say thank you to BEMC for the scholarship. It really shows that, by investing in the next generation, you are committed to seeing youth succeed.”

“I am loving UNC-Chapel Hill,” Helen reports. “The independence is great, and there is so much going on, so many opportunities to meet people. I came in with my Associates's degree, which gives me the chance to explore different majors, and right now I’m focusing on Biology and Exercise, and Sports Science. I’m hoping to go to dental school and one day practice pediatric dentistry.

Classes are about what I expected, and I’m pretty good at time management so I’m still able to do other things. I was really excited to be selected to serve on the Hospital and Family Relations Committee for Carolina for the Kids, a university organization that works with UNC’s Children’s Hospital. Thank you, Brunswick Electric, for helping to make this happen.”

Want to apply?

Brunswick Electric will award two scholarships of $5,000 each to two high school seniors, one from Brunswick County and one from the Columbus County area, in the spring. The scholarship awards will be based on a combination of academic achievement, participation in community or school-related activities, SAT scores, letters of reference, and submission of a 1,500-word essay. Completed applications must be submitted through the student's guidance counselor by March 17. For more information visit bemc.org.