BUIES CREEK – For the past two days, more than 40 of the area’s brightest high school seniors have braved extensive panel interviews in an effort to land one of two full-ride scholarships in Campbell University’s annual competition.
The Gladys Baars Campbell Scholarship and the J. Hunter and Mabel C. Strickland Memorial Scholarship competitions award full tuition to students in surrounding counties who’ve been nominated by their high school counselors. Eleven students have received the Baars Campbell scholarship, and 15 have won the Strickland scholarship, both of which include tuition, housing, meals, textbooks and parking for all four years of undergraduate studies at Campbell.
According to Sherry Smith, director for endowed scholarships at Campbell, the students already come to the competition with impressive resumes. What the judges are looking for is how they perform under pressure.
“They want to see that these students have knowledge of current events, that they’re able to explain certain situations and show problem solving skills,” Manning said. “They’re also judged by their attire, their poise and, of course, their answers during the interviews.”
Recent Baars Campbell Scholarship winners Ethan Meadows of Kinston, now a sophomore at Campbell, and freshman Kelly Best of Goldsboro were on hand at the Wiggins Library Wednesday to help run the competition (the Strickland event was held Tuesday). Meadows recalled questions about current events like President Obama’s health care bill when he interviewed, and said the panel asked him about his extracurricular and faith-based activities while in high school.
“It wasn’t terribly stressful, because the professors were nice and personable,” Meadows said. “It could have been worse. My advice to this year’s students is just come prepared and be loose.”
Best said she feels she won the scholarship because of her resume in high school, coupled with a lot of experience with interviews before she graduated.
“I did a lot in high school, and I worked really hard,” she said. “I’d tell future students that if they’re not comfortable in an interview setting, they need to get comfortable.”
Callie Manning, administrative assistant for endowed scholarships at Campbell, said the winners should be announced in early 2012.
– by Billy Liggett, Assistant Director for Publications
ABOUT THE SCHOLARSHIPS
Strickland Memorial Scholarship
Former trustees of Campbell University, J. Hunter and Mabel C. Strickland wanted to establish a fund to further Christian higher education. A successful entrepreneur, J. Hunter Strickland was an alumnus of Campbell. The first full J. Hunter and Mabel C. Strickland Scholarship competition was held in the 1993-1994 academic year.Baars Campbell Scholarship
A native of Duplin County, Gladys Baars Campbell graduated from Campbell Academy in 1924. She received training to become a nurse at Charlotte Sanatorium. Her nursing career spanned 43 years. The first Gladys Baars Campbell Scholarship awards were made during the 1987-1988 academic year at Campbell. The first full scholarship competition was held in the 2001-2002 academic year.