2011 Scholarship Recipients
We are proud to announce our 2011 Scholarship Recipients of the second Howard Aslinger Foundation Scholarship along with their winning essays:
Savannah Gardner
My name is Savannah Gardner. I live in Alabama, in a little town called Alexandria. I was diagnosed with Cerebral Palsy when I was about thirteen months old. Now I’m seventeen and will be entering my senior year of high school in August. I am currently pursuing college options. I plan to major in Speech Pathology with a minor in Spanish. I plan to stay in school to get my master’s degree. It would be very helpful to me and my family if I were granted this scholarship.
As I mentioned before I have Cerebral palsy, but I think it’s important that you know that I have not let my disability limit me in any way. I actually in some ways consider it an ability instead of a disability. I have Mr. Howard Aslinger and I have to say while I was reading about the legacy he left, I noticed we have a very similar mindset. He too let nothing stop him from achieving his dreams.
I have always been very active and loved to play sports. Unfortunately when I was younger I was somewhat limited in this area, but I could not give up on my love for sports. In 2005 my family and I found out about a place that offered wheelchair athletics for children with disabilities. I joined the swim team and started playing on their wheelchair basketball team. The following year I also got involved with track and field. I eventually made the decision on the sport I love most, which is basketball. I have one more season wheelchair basketball in the junior division, but I plan to go on to play at the college level as well and possibly make a national team one day.
With that being said, colleges with wheelchair basketball teams are very few. Only one college in my state has such a program. Although I believe the University of Alabama to be an option for me, I am also looking at other colleges that are out of state, such as the University of Wisconsin, Whitewater. Unfortunately, with an out of state university comes the out of state tuition which is extremely expensive. This is one of the many reasons the scholarship would be so helpful. Then my college options would not be limited because of state lines and I would be able to further pursue my college dreams of getting a degree in Speech Pathology and playing wheelchair basketball.
I suppose I should talk about my after college plans as well. After getting my degree in Speech Pathology, I plan to get married and have a family of my own one day. I have a dream of starting my own organization to help children like me that are disabled live life to the fullest. I would also love to spend some part of my life in a foreign country helping disabled children there who have nothing to assist them in their daily lives. Nothing would please me more than see their faces light up when they realize what life has to offer, even when they’re disabled.
I understand none of these plans are set in stone, but I trust that no matter what the future holds, God will guide me in the right direction. If He can bring me though all of the inconveniences as Mr. Aslinger would say, then I know He can show me the right direction for my college plans. You have no idea how much of a blessing this scholarship would be to me. I promise that if I were granted this scholarship, your money would not go to waste and I would do my best to bring Mr. Howard Aslinger’s life honor and justice.
Thank you so much for taking the time to read my essay and consider me for the scholarship.
Caroline Elgin
Tomorrow I start attending The Art Institute of Washington-Northern Virginia (AINV)! I am very excited to be following my dream, but need help paying expenses and hope to get a scholarship from you. I have read about Mr. Aslinger and hope I can follow his example by being happy, successful and inspiring to others, despite my own “inconveniences”.
I am very excited about AINV’s graphic design program and want to work in that field. What is special about me is that I have Cerebral Palsy due to trauma at birth. Because of my CP I use a power wheelchair and have some trouble speaking. But that doesn’t stop me from what I love to do; being creative on the computer!
One good thing about having CP is that I was able to get my service dog, Sajen. I met my first real service dog after I had major surgery in Minnesota. We chose to apply to Canine Companion for Independence (CCI) because they’re the oldest, largest and best organization that trains and places service dogs for people with physical disabilities. We spent two weeks being matched with our dogs, and I got my very best friend, Sajen. The “Team Training” as it’s called, was very interesting. Not only did I get to take Sajen home, but I met a lot of inspiring people with disabilities. One was named Hale. He had been hit by a drunk driver at 19 and couldn’t walk or talk anymore. But, he still got his Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees using a talking computer box. He showed me that almost anything is possible.
My favorite extracurricular activities in high school are Art Club, Future Farmers of America (FFA) and Family, Career, Community Leadership of America (FCCLA). I always compete at our local Fauquier County Fair and have won several blue ribbons in Computer Design. One of my favorite entries was a computer drawing I did of the Warrenton Court Building. For my favorite floral arrangement I mixed purple and yellow flowers together, such as daisies and lavender. My winning cake entry for several years has been a favorite recipe for pumpkin pound cake!
I also have been active in therapeutic riding and adaptive skiing. Riding a horse is fun because it’s kind of like walking, I guess. I get to tell the horse where to go. When I ski, I sit on a chair which holds skis underneath. So far, there’s always been someone behind me holding on and steering to make sure I don’t crash, but I hope to be able to go on my own someday.
My very favorite activity has been being part of a 4H dog club and showing my dog, Sajen, in 4H events at Fauquier County Fir and 6 trips to Virginia State Fair. We have won a lot of ribbons in obedience, agility, rally and, our specialty, costume. We also do parades like The Plains Day and Middleburg Christmas Parade. Because I’m so happy to have Sajen, he and I do a lot of community service for CCI, like fund raisers and public awareness events. I have been to Walter Reed Hospital to talk to wounded veterans about what CCI means to me, but also take time every time we are out to let people meet him and learn more about service dogs and people with disabilities like me.
Now that I have graduated from High School, I am really looking forward to focusing on my future and my career. I truly feel that attending the Art Institute will help me learn valuable skills that I can use in a graphic design career. Because of my CP, my drawing technique may be different from others, but I enjoy being creative and believe that improving my computer graphic skills will help me put my ideas on paper.
A graphic design education would allow me to start a small business from home, if my disability were to make working for others more difficult. I actually started a small business called Caroline’s Cards a few years ago and sold enough of my cards to donate $1000 to my favorite organization, Canine Companions for Independence.
And that’s what I hope my education from Art Institute in Graphic Design will help me to do…give me a way to have my own income while doing something I really enjoy and allow me to give back to my community, especially to non-profits who help others. 
2010 Scholarship Recipients
Anthony Bonelli from Washington, NJ; planning to attend Rutgers University to pursue his Bachelors in Journalism and Media Studies.
My name is Antohy Bonelli. The nature of my disability is Cerebral Palsy but it does not stop me from making and obtaining goals. Although I use a wheelchair to ambulate, I have been very active in the community. I was the statistician for the baseball and basketball teams during my high school years and also worked for the school newpaper. I spent five consecutive summers at Bruce Beck & Ian Eagle Sports Broadcasting Camp to get better at my chosen craft. I learned how to prepare and call any type of game, meaning I had to know all the players, their hometown and school and create charts for each game we attended during camp. I would watch the game and broadcast each player's statistics as they played the game. The second year at camp my assignment was to write my own script and have my own broadcast. The week ended with each camper having a DVD of their broadcast. We learned how to use different camera angles, television terminology and we even had the opportunity to interview minor league baseball players.
In college I was vice president to Sigma Chi Eta National Honor Society, National Communication Association 2009 Student of the Year. I graduated magna Cum Laude from Warren County Community College with an Associate in Liberal Arts, Communications Option, Phi Theta Kappa, Sigma Alpha Pi, and Sima Chi Eta. I was on the school newspaper in Warren County Community College as well. I also won the Andrew J Murphy award "For striving to live a life of independence and inspiring other to live life to the fullest!", presented to me by the Advancing Opportunities, Cerebral Palsy of new Jersey.
During my time at Warren County Community College I became restless to start my career path in Broadcast/Journalism. It was my camp counselor, Mike Quick, High School Reporter/Producer, who I turned to for my first shot at an interview out of my comfort zone. I interviewed Coach Fred Stengel, who was the football coach as Bergen Catholic High School in Oradel, NJ. Coach Stengel has watched several of his players go on the have National Football League (NFL) careers. The research alone was extensive and Coach Stengel complimented me on how well prepared I was. The experience was worth all the work involved.
The reason why I feel I should receive the Howard L. Aslinger Memorial Scholarship is because I love life and I will do what ever it takes to accomplish my goals. I am now headed off to Rutgers University for a bachelor's degree in Journalism and Media Studies. The scholarship would mean so much to me because it would contribute to my goal of graduating from Rutgers University.
I appreciate the opportunity to apply for this scholarship and respcetfully submit this essay to you.
Peter Berv from Nederland, Colorado; planning to attend the University of Phoenix to pursue his Bachelors in Small Business Management and Entrepreneurship.
As humans we all have imperfections. Some of our imperfections are more physical, and for others, our quirks may be more internal. Internally or externally, we all have given challenges. I was born with one bone in my right leg and missing other bones in my right foot. This condition is known as congenital afibula, which translates as to "born without a fibula"; the fibula being one of the major structual bones in the leg.
While missing bones may not be considered a traditional handicap, it has been a complex personal challenge that I have dealt with each day of my life. Maybe the reason this condition was never classified as a hadicap is because it is hard to calssify congenital abnormalities. I know no one else with my condition. More than one doctor I have consulted with informed me that most people born with my condition would normally have had their leg amputated shortly after birth. It is hard not to hear those words as insensitive. I often wonder about why I was born this way, and how my life may have been different.
In my imagination, I sometimes wonder what the world would be like if everyone had my condition. How would the worlds of managing pain and comfort be different in such simple things like driving, working, walking, or traveling? Would the degree of somone's limp determine how we are attracted to him or her? Would sports have developed to the degree we find today or would it be more of an artistic world?
I had three major surgeries by the time I was eleven. Two of which were major leg lengthening surgeries. At a young age, I was used to spending weeks on end in the hospital, and weekly or monthly doctor visits. Wheelchairs, walkers, crutches, braces, and casts were part of my wardrobe.
When I was 15, my doctor told me I didn't need my leg brace anymore. Although the sizes of my braces had gradually reduced over the years, I felt like I was finally let out of a cage when I took off my leg brace for the last time. The day I was able to go without a brace anymore was major victory in my life. Nothing could stop me after that. I wanted to go everywhere and do everything, and I did. I climbed mountains. I traveled to foreign countries. I learned from many world traditions. I got used to the stares and found efficient answers to the questions asked of me several times a day, "what happened?" And most importantly, I walked.
I walked a lot, maybe too much. By the time I was 24, after retruning from living in the Himalayan jungles of India for 5 months, I could barely walk anymore. I could not walk for more than 10 minutes without excrucuating pain. Bone-on-bone kind of pain. I needed a solution. I needed a brace. Like all the years up to then, I had been experimenting with everything I could find to reduce the arthritic conditions that would often come and go with no warning: ankle corsets, homeopathic rememdies, supplements, diet, magnets, massage, specific oils, martial arts, and a lot of time off my feet. I ended up bringing a design for a brace to a local prosthetic manufacturer. They helped me make a brace that I've worn since and had helped relieve some of the pain.
In 2008, I ended up finding an experimental procedure involving adult stem cells. I found the Cento-Schultz Pain Management Clinic in Broomfield, Colorado after a world-wide search for a qualified doctor to do an ankle replacement. With that search ending in a conversation with one of the world's' top joint replacement doctors from Copenhagen telling me I would not qualify for an ankle replacement, my search continued and led to this clinic 30 minutes from my house.
They extracted bone marrow from my hip, rich in stem cells and re-injected them into my ankle. I have done the procedure three times and it has helped to reverse the degeneration of the cartilage in my ankle. I am grateful for the pain relief this procedure has given me. I still have significant pain, but when I remember the time I could not walk for more than 10 minutes, I know it has greatly helped.
The other parallel that runs with my physical story the one of my education and goals in life. My condition put me on, what I call a healing path at a young age. There is no one point where it strarted. It was natural evolution. I have memories of going to the Boston Children's Hospital and seeing kids my age with significant congenital abnormalities, missing arms or hands or other appendages. There were kids with spinal injuries who could not move. Sometimes I would hear the kids in the other rooms crying in their discomfort. No matter how bad or uncomforable my experience was, there was always someone reminding me that my situation was 100 times better than their condition. I had it easy. Nobody taught me not to complain.
By the time I was 16, I was fascinated with all sorts of healing traditions. I could write another essay on all the books I read and self-explorations I dove into. By the time I had to decide on a college education, I opted to study herbal medicine and eventually massage therapy. This led into my career in my twenties where I worked on thousands of people in several healing modalities.
After over a decade of maintaining my own healing practice, Nova Healing Arts, I decided that I could serve at a greater capacity with a business education. In my career, I found that very few practitioners in the health and wellness industry have the business skills to run their practices effeciently and economically. I could see that for many, this was a major stumbling block for advancing in their careers and managing their businesses. I decided I could help more people and use my mental capacities to a greater degree with a business education.
I started in 2008, shortly after my daughter was born, studying online through the Axia College of the Universtiy of Phoenix to get my bachelor's degree in Small Business Management and Entrepreneurship. This degree will allow me to best serve our health practitioners and small businesses orented towards serving other's health needs.
I am requesting scholarship assistance to help me make this dream come true. I want to be able to serve others to be their best and manifest their dreams no matter what condition they have, inside or out. It is through helping others the we forget our own problems and pain. I feel it is my duty, privilege and right to help ohers improve their life through health and education. I know with my education, I can make this happen. With financial assistance from a scholarship, I am one step closer to my goal.