Return to Table of ContentsApril 1998
Carson Scholars Achieve Despite Obstacles Winning a Benjamin S. Carson Scholarship means that a student need not worry about tuition and fees while a student at UMass Boston. As a Carson scholar, a student is also eligible for an additional benefit--the Alexzandrina Young Book award, given to the Carson scholar or scholars with the highest grade point average annually. This year, the book award, which covers $250 worth of book costs, was shared by Chukwuka Okafor, a junior bio-chemistry major, and Elisa Urena, a senior accounting and finance major.
Originally intended to intensify recruitment of students of color, eligibility for the Carson Scholarship was broadened two years ago to include any students who have experienced obstacles to a higher education. Both Urena and Okafor say that without the Carson Scholarship, getting a college education would have been much more difficult.
"Receiving the Carson scholarship is one of the reasons I chose UMass Boston over other schools I had been accepted to," says Okafor, who also received a prestigious $20,000 National Institute of Health scholarship this year. He adds that it was the security of having the Carson scholarship when he had no family members or others to depend on for support that allowed him to pursue his education.
Both Okafor and Urena credit the Carson scholarship with allowing them to focus on their studies rather than working to finance their educations. "The scholarship was such a gift, and I've worked harder to show how grateful I am," says Urena, who came to this country from Guatemala with her family five years ago. "I don't know if I would be in college without it." Urena intends to work in accounting after graduating.
Dr. Benjamin S. Carson is the director of Pediatric Neurosurgery at Johns Hopkins Medical Center. His success and renown inspired the naming of a scholarship in his honor. Lana Jackman, senior academic and career advisor in the University Advising Center, was a member of the committee that established the scholarship. They were seeking an inspirational role model after whom to name the scholarship program. Carson gained worldwide recognition in 1987 for his part in separating siamese twins joined at the back of the head. A committee member read a story about him and his accomplishments in the Reader's Digest .
After contacting Carson to ask permission to name the scholarship after him, they found out that he had spent two years as a child in Dorchester, and it was there that he decided to become a doctor.
Carson and his brother were raised by their mother, Sonya, whose own education ended in the 3rd grade. With her support, he overcame obstacles that might have led others to forego their goals and dreams. Carson's story is chronicled in the book, Gifted Hands, written by Carson with Cecil Murphy, published by Zondervan Publishing House.
In that book, Carson tells of his mother's guiding influence, the development of his strong religious convictions, and overcoming his own youthful violent temper in order to excel at school and win a scholarship to Yale University. He completed his medical studies at the University of Michigan. At the age of 33, Carson was appointed director of pediatric neurosurgery at Johns Hopkins University Hospital, where he continues to practice medicine today. Dr. Carson's achievements were recognized by UMass Boston with an honorary doctor of science degree in 1992.
The Alexzandrina Young Book Award is named after a long-time member of the University Advising Center who was a special advocate for students from the Boston Public Schools. It was established by Frank Pryor, the first graduate of the Carson Scholarship program and a Roxbury native who graduated with a degree in political science. He is now a Ph.D. Candidate in Political Science at Howard University.