Bloch Scholars
Scholar Testimonials
Imagine her surprise. Not long after Naomi Goodseal was awarded the Henry W. Bloch Scholarship, Henry Bloch himself walked into the AT&T store where she worked. He needed help with his cell phone.
"He knew me right away and was impressed I was working while going to school full time. I helped him with his phone and the Bluetooth link in his car."
It was a rare opportunity to help the person whose scholarship was doing so much to help her.
College? Doubtful.
College wasn't in Goodseal's future. None in her family (her mom, eight brothers and
sisters)
had ever gone to college. And no one was pushing her to go either.
Not surprisingly, she started to work right out of high school. Soon she got a job with AT&T, a good job, but one that could be better with a higher education. That, and seeing her mom's struggle to make ends meet, gave her the push to go to college.
She enrolled at MCC-Penn Valley and signed up with Project Success to get the tutoring she needed. She then heard of the Bloch scholarship, applied and got it. Two years later, after success in class and work as a Penn Valley student ambassador, she graduated - the first in her family to get a degree.
Money and motivation.
"I don't think I would have stayed with it without the scholarship," she says. "It's not so much the money as it is the motivation you get to finish. You meet so many people who care about you and support you. It helps a lot to get a pat on the back-more than you know."
Now Naomi Goodseal is seeking a bachelor's degree in business management from UMKC. No doubt her motivation will drive her to succeed there as well.