Every year, Butler Weihmuller Katz Craig awards a laptop to a deserving high school senior who has exhibited commitment to their academics in their CTRL Your Future essay contest. This year, Kaitlyn, a 2020 Strawberry Crest High School graduate and student in Hillsborough Education Foundation’s Take Stock in Children scholarship and mentoring program is the recipient of the laptop scholarship.
Kaitlyn, who will be enrolling at Hillsborough Community College to study Forensic Anthropology in the fall, highlighted her struggle to balance working late hours while completing her class work and staying on track to attend college.
“It was very well written and very inspirational,” said Butler Weihmuller Katz Craig Partner David Maldoff. “It’s clear that she’s been working really hard to get to where she’s at. She’s been juggling working at Zaxby’s, overcoming certain things, trying to get that SAT score up.”
According to Butler Weihmuller Katz Craig Business Development and Marketing Assistant Manager Brittney Bagiardi, it was Kaitlyn’s perseverance and dedication to her studies, no matter the circumstances, that made her stand out from the rest.
“You didn’t just say, ‘Hey, I worked through high school,’ you talked about how exhausting it was and how many hours late at night that you had to put in, and you know what, sometimes in college you’re going to have to do that too,” Bagiardi said. “It made me feel like, ‘Wow, Kaitlyn is going to do so great in college. She already has the drive. She has this initiative. Let’s get her something to help her continue this path’ because girl, you’ve got it. You’ve got that grit and gumption and we’re rooting for you all the way.”
For Kaitlyn, the new HP laptop—already complete with Microsoft Office Suite in preparation for her college coursework—couldn’t have come at a better time.
“My old laptop is really old, and I don’t know what year it is, but there’s tape on the bottom to hold the pieces together, and it was slow while I was doing homework for school and during this whole coronavirus,” Kaitlyn explained. “Thank you so much for giving me this laptop. It will definitely help me to achieve my goals and help me with college work.”
Anna Corman, Hillsborough Education Foundation’s Director of the Take Stock in Children Program, said she is proud of Kaitlyn’s hard work and hopes this laptop scholarship will help her on her path to continued academic success.
“This is a great way to recognize all of your hard work, and hopefully this will help set you up for success in the future,” Corman said. “And just a huge thank you to David and Brittney for organizing this and supporting Kaitlyn as she transitions to be a college student. It’s very exciting!”
To learn more about Hillsborough Education Foundation’s Take Stock in Children mentoring and scholarship program, visit EducationFoundation.com/TSIC-Scholarships.