Submitted by St. Martin’s University
Lacey, Washington – Saint Martin’s University has awarded its valued Board of Trustees Scholarships to two community college transfer students who exemplify the University’s commitment to academic excellence and community service. Both students will receive a $24,000 scholarship, which will be divided over four semesters of study. Students applying must have an associate’s degree, a 3.5 grade point average or higher, and a demonstrated commitment to service.
The 2013 Trustee Scholarship recipients are:
Alexandra Sitton, Olympia
Sitton, 25, is transferring from South Puget Sound Community College and will major in civil engineering at Saint Martin’s.
Sitton, who has one daughter, graduated from El Dorado High School in Placentia, Calif., before moving to Washington. She is a past member of the Washington Conservation Corps, an AmeriCorps program, and, among her service activities, helped build a food bank in the town of Elma.
She says she considers it important to be a positive and influential mentor and role model to her daughter and to others so that they can recognize the great opportunities offered in life.
Gary Mersereau, Pe Ell
Mersereau, originally from Eugene, Ore., earned his associates degree from Centralia College and is a 32-year-old father of two. He will pursue a degree through Saint Martin’s new RN-to-BSN nursing program.
He began volunteering as a firefighter during his senior year in high school, and has continued to serve as a firefighter and emergency medical technician ever since. He has held several offices, including the presidency of the fire association and was honored with a Firefighter of the Year Award from Lewis County Fire District No. 11.
Mersereau says that volunteering has led to great training and learning opportunities. “For 14 years now, I have volunteered, and plan on continuing to volunteer as long as I am able. I love helping the people in our community.”
Saint Martin’s University is an independent four-year, coeducational university located on a wooded campus of more than 300 acres in Lacey, Washington. Established in 1895 by the Catholic Order of Saint Benedict, the University is one of 14 Benedictine colleges and universities in the United States and Canada, and the only one west of the Rocky Mountains. Saint Martin’s University prepares students for successful lives through its 23 majors and seven graduate programs spanning the liberal arts, business, education, nursing and engineering. Saint Martin’s welcomes more than 1,100 undergraduate students and 400 graduate students from many ethnic and religious backgrounds to its Lacey campus, and 300 more undergraduate students to its extension campuses located at Joint Base Lewis-McChord and Centralia College. Visit the Saint Martin’s University website at www.stmartin.edu.
