Jessica Wardach: Scholarships helped her study and serve
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Jessica Wardach, who graduated with her bachelor’s degree in May 2018, fell in love with nursing when she volunteered as a new undergraduate at CommunityHealth in Chicago’s West Town neighborhood, the largest free health clinic in the nation.
So when she started at UIC, she wanted to continue – and strengthen – her volunteer commitments.
Scholarships helped her do that, said Wardach when she spoke at the Donor & Scholar Recognition luncheon, which brought scholarship donors together with the students they help. Wardach was one of the recipients of the Dorothy Mayer Memorial Endowed Scholarship.
“For me, this scholarship relieved some financial pressure, allowing me not only to focus on my studies, but to also have time to participate in co-curricular activities and volunteer opportunities across the city,” she said.
During her time at the UIC College of Nursing, Wardach volunteered at the Chicago Marathon medical tent, organized a blood drive and toy drive, served as a peer mentor and worked as a student nurse assistant at Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago.
“[Scholarships] also provide us with something equally if not more important: recognition of a job well done,” she said.