The Rochester District Golf Association and the RDGA Foundation are pleased to present FOUR winning recipients of the 2020 RDGA Foundation Scholarship! Each recipient submitted applications and matched criteria required for consideration. Each applicant participated in candidate interviews with a panel that included RDGA Staff, and RDGA Foundation Board members.
To be eligible for a 2020 RDGA Foundation Scholarship, applicants met the following requirements:
1. Applicants must be legal residents of the State of New York in one of the following counties served by the Rochester District Golf Association: Genesee, Livingston, Monroe, Ontario, Orleans, Steuben, Wayne and Yates.
2. Applicants must have been accepted for admission as, or already be enrolled as, a full-time student in an undergraduate program at an accredited college/university.
Each of the winning RDGA Foundation Scholarship recipients below will receive $1500 towards tuition or expenses for the 2020-21 academic year.
HEZAL KOPARHigh School: Rush-Henrietta
College or University Attending in the Fall: RIT
Major Field of Study: Biology
Hezal lists her strengths as being passionate with everything she does, as well as enjoying taking on leadership positions. She is also a member of the Music Honor Society, volunteers in her community and enjoys playing golf in her spare time.
Hezal also comes from a close-knit family with a father who has struggled off and on in recent years with an auto-immune disease. Because of this, Hezal’s chosen fields of study at RIT will be biology, science and math – all with the intention of helping people like her father in the future.
Q: How did you hear about the RDGA Foundation Scholarship?
A: I heard about the RDGA Foundation Scholarship from my school. It was posted on an app we use called Naviance; it had golf in the scholarship name, so I was interested in applying for it.
Q: What does the RDGA Foundation Scholarship mean to you? (How has it impacted your college plans?)
A: This scholarship has helped me with lowering my tuition at RIT. It has helped my parents since they are going to be helping me pay for college, now instead of paying more money towards tuition that can be used for books, papers, etc.
Q: What would you tell other high school students – who may be looking for scholarships – about the RDGA Foundation Scholarship?
A: I would tell other high school students to go for it and apply! You lose nothing by applying and the application process wasn’t too difficult either. A $1,000 scholarship might not seem like a lot before college but once you start every penny towards your education will help.
SEAN MERRIMANHigh School: Penfield
College or University Attending in the Fall: Boston College
Major Field of Study: Business
As a student at Penfield High School, Sean had many interests from volunteering to student activities and clubs to athletics. In fact, he lists one of his greatest personal achievements as overcoming health issues in his youth and eventually making the varsity hockey team and being named most improved player.
Sean also lists his father as his greatest role model and would like to follow in his footsteps as a financial manager – which is why he plans to major in business when he begins at Boston College in the Fall.
Q: How did you hear about the RDGA Foundation Scholarship?
A: My dad told me about the scholarship but I also heard about it from my school coach.
Q: What does the RDGA Foundation Scholarship mean to you? (How has it impacted your college plans?)
A: The scholarship will certainly help me pay for college- any little bit helps. Spending money is huge when you aren’t living with your parents.
Q: What would you tell other high school students – who may be looking for scholarships – about the RDGA Foundation Scholarship?
A: I would tell them it doesn’t take much to apply and its very easy to go through the process, so why not try?
MAX REEDHigh School: Caledonia-Mumford
College or University Attending in the Fall: Notre Dame
Major Field of Study: Business Analytics
Max is a versitile student athlete, playing soccer and basketball for Cal-Mum, as well as starting for the school golf team – all of which, he says, helped teach him valuable life skills.
When he’s not participating in school sports, Max voulunteers for youth basketball programs as well as Special Olympics and is a member of the Cal-Mum student council.
He plans to study business analytics when he begins class at Notre Dame in the Fall – and cites late Apple founder Steve Jobs as his personal role model as someone who overcame adversity and worked his way back to the top of his field.
Q: How did you hear about the RDGA Foundation Scholarship?
A: I heard about the RDGA Foundation Scholarship online since I am a member of the RDGA.
Q: What does the RDGA Foundation Scholarship mean to you? (How has it impacted your college plans?)
A: The RDGA Foundation Scholarship was an awesome addition that will help me pay for my college education.
Q: What would you tell other high school students – who may be looking for scholarships – about the RDGA Foundation Scholarship?
A: I would tell other high school students to make sure they are researching what scholarships are available and not to be afraid to apply for them because you may end up getting even more than you expected.
LOGAN TAYLORHigh School: Rush-Henrietta
College or University Attending in the Fall: Utica College
Major Field of Study: Sports Management
Logan is an avid sports enthusiast on many levels – both as a fan and a participant – and, in fact, lists her career goal as working for an NFL team. Because of this, Logan will begin her studies at Utica College this Fall in Sports Management.
As an athlete, Logan has participated in AAU basketball and cheerleading and lists her biggest personal achievement as making the varsity team in basketball.
Logan adds that her mother is her biggest role model, that she is into service as much as sports and that her strengths are time management and managing her many interests with her academic pursuits.
Q: How did you hear about the RDGA Foundation Scholarship?
A: I heard about the RDGA FoundationScholarship through my school when they sent out a list of scholarships in the Rochester Area. It seemed like such a cool opportunity for me and I knew I had to do it!
Q: What does the RDGA Foundation Scholarship mean to you? (How has it impacted your college plans?)
A: This scholarship means so much to me! It will help decrease my tuition cost which makes it easier to get my masters later on. It is definitely something that will make a huge impact for me!
Q: What would you tell other high school students – who may be looking for scholarships – about the RDGA Foundation Scholarship?
A: I would tell any high school students that are looking at this scholarship that you should definitely apply! It is a great opportunity through an amazing foundation and everyone was so nice when talking to them! This award will significantly help your college costs and it is definitely not something to pass up on!
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