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April 2022 - Scholarship Presentation and Benefit Dinner Dance
2017 Scholarship Recipient Comments
When I was awarded the Kevin M. Eidt Memorial Scholarship in 2017, I was absolutely beside myself! I remember crying with joy when I got the call and then rushing downstairs afterwards to tell my parents. I will make my best effort to stand up tonight and not cry now because of my heartfelt gratitude, but I make no promises.
I want to express my sincerest gratitude to Mr. and Mrs. Eidt for sharing the loving memory of Kevin with me and the community of recipients you have fostered, many of whom are here tonight. I am honored and privileged to have received such a generous investment in my education and I deeply appreciate everyone who made it possible. I believe that we may honor someone else’s life by living ours with a purpose and that sentiment guided me throughout college, grounding me to the morals and values that the Kevin M. Eidt Scholarship is built upon.
I entered my freshman year at Furman University very unsure of what I wanted to study and even more unsure about what I wanted to do with my career. I was so profoundly impacted by the teachers in my life, my mother being one of them, that I decided to take a class in our education department titled “Human Development.” As part of this class, we each were assigned to study a life stage, mine being the end of life. I read a book titled ‘Being Mortal’ by Atul Gawande, an American surgeon who shares his perspective on the medical system and how it should be more focused on well-being rather than survival. His anecdotes and statistics drove my first interest in our healthcare system. Later that year, I took Healthcare Economics and a Public Health course, which eventually led to me declaring a business major with a concentration in health and medicine.
Similar to Norwalk High, Furman had so much to offer in the way of both academics and extracurriculars. Being a small liberal arts school nestled in the foothills of the Appalachian Mountains in northwestern South Carolina, Furman had an emphasis on student life. There was a student group dedicated to every passion imaginable - people coming together with shared interest and common purpose. As I embraced many of these opportunities, I was reminded of Kevin's legacy to not limit yourself by what you know, but rather engage with as many people, places, and experiences as possible.
The organization that most impacted my Furman experience was Admissions Ambassadors, where I conducted on-campus–and later virtual– tours for prospective students, their families, and high school admissions counselors. I was even honored by a visit from Dr. Sullivan, my NHS guidance counselor who is here tonight to honor all of Kevin’s recipients! During my junior year I was elected Vice President of Training for the organization. The training process for being a tour guide is somewhat ambiguous because each student has a unique Furman-Story to tell but sharing tips and my own experience aided them to construct theirs.
My most niche Furman memory with a student organization, and really just in general, is participating in the annual student competition: Havoc. This is a survivor-esque challenge in which 20 students compete in both athletic and creative challenges while raising money for an organization of their choosing. The theme of my year’s competition was ‘Havocwood’, a spin on Hollywood. I chose to dress as Princess Leia, buns on the side of my head and all, and proceeded to not change, shower, or enter any dormitory buildings for an entire week, sleeping in a tent outside of the library. The organization I supported was Girls on The Run, a national nonprofit that supports girl empowerment and health initiatives through team-based running. I raised nearly $3,000 from my classmates which went towards providing over 180 scholarships to girls to participate in the organization and have access to the coaches who serve as mentors and positive role models for the athletes. The role models I have had throughout high school and college, several of whom are in the room tonight, have shaped me into the person I am today, and I hope I was able to provide that opportunity to other young girls.
The Kevin M. Eidt Scholarship financially enabled my education to expand beyond the gates of Furman’s campus to Europe and Central America for study abroad opportunities. Fall semester of 2020, my junior year, I had the opportunity to attend NYU’s campus in Prague. I view my education as the process of collecting unique experiences and knew that NYU’s students and faculty would perfectly supplement this. I spent many of my weekends exploring Prague and was lucky enough to be a weekend host to high school and college friends also studying abroad; Even my parents came to visit and explore the beautiful city.
An important aspect of the Kevin M. Eidt Scholarship is the commitment to serve those around you. While coming home in mid-March 2020 due to COVID-19 was disappointing because my Spring semester was cut short, I had the invaluable opportunity of volunteering with the Meals on Wheels Program which operates out of the Norwalk Senior Center. Many of the existing volunteers were elderly and unable to continue to pack and deliver meals. When I arrived on my first day as a volunteer driver, I realized there were plenty of drivers, but could see it was operationally difficult absorbing the influx of new volunteers. I suggested to the program coordinator that I could assist in the administrative aspects of the program rather than simply becoming one of the periodic drivers. With COVID creating uncertainty, within weeks of my starting, the program coordinator took a leave and as a result, I became the in-person director for the Norwalk Meals on Wheels Program. We coordinated around 30 volunteers to deliver meals to roughly 70 elderly or disabled people five days a week, and during the summer of 2020, we increased our outreach to include grocery delivery. I felt blessed to live in a city as benevolent as Norwalk as I watched people of all backgrounds come together to support those in need.
All of the good in Norwalk, or any city for that matter, comes from the people who care about it - the people who live engaged and dedicated lives, while inspiring those around them as well. Kevin’s legacy has built a community such as this that sets high standards and has pushed me to be a better sister, friend, student, and now worker.
Upon graduating from Furman this past May, I began my career working for CVS Health in their General Management Development Program. This rotational program provides exposure across CVS Health’s core businesses and offers meaningful rotations with a focus on business, healthcare, and leadership skills. My role at the company thus far has been to support system enhancements that assist patients move to lower-cost sites of care for their specialty drugs or infusion needs. The pandemic has accelerated innovative, technology-based solutions to provide more personalized care to consumers and I am excited to be contributing to this. I am currently living in New York City and following this 18-month rotation, I will complete 2 more rotations in new areas of the business before choosing a final area of career focus.
The most important lesson the Eidt Scholarship has taught me is to be the things you love most about the people who are gone. Thank you for supporting me during my past four years. I am so grateful to have been selected as an Eidt Scholarship recipient, and proud of the commitment this program , through every donor, has made to Norwalk High School. I look forward to continuing to live out Kevin’s legacy, grounding me to the morals and values that the Kevin M. Eidt Scholarship is built upon.
Background
The Kevin M. Eidt Memorial Scholarship Fund was established through the generosity of the many people Kevin touched in his short life. Kevin, an 18-year-old dean's list freshman in the honors program at Boston College, passed away from cardiac arrest on January 23, 1997 while playing intramural basketball. Kevin set the example of the passion and sincerity we should bring to each day. He was an individual with vision, commitment, abiding hope, aspirations, and compassion. And when we look back, it was a life, albeit a glimpse of life, by which people can be measured and judged by.
Mission
The mission of the Kevin M. Eidt Memorial Scholarship Fund is to preserve Kevin's spirit by paying tribute to achievements in academics, athletics, arts, and the virtues of service and faith that were the essence of Kevin's life.
Fund Facts
With 12 scholarships, valued at $160,500, awarded to the class of 2023, Kevin's Fund will have provided $2.7 Million in financial support to 222 exemplary young men and women matriculating at over 85 diverse colleges and universities in Kevin's memory. The dramatic growth in scholarship awards is directly related to the financial success of our annual benefit dinner dance, which began in 2000 and funded scholarships for the class of 2001. As a result of this generosity, Kevin's Fund has awarded the following scholarships.
To the class of 1997 $3,750 To the class of 1998 $5,000 To the class of 1999 $12,000 To the class of 2000 $13,000 To the class of 2001 $47,000 To the class of 2002 $55,000 To the class of 2003 $70,000 To the class of 2004 $85,000 To the class of 2005 $100,000 To the class of 2006 $111,000 To the class of 2007 $127,000 To the class of 2008 $139,000 To the class of 2009 $140,000 To the class of 2010 $118,000 To the class of 2011 $117,000 To the class of 2012 $115,000 To the class of 2013 $121,000 To the class of 2014 $122,000 To the class of 2015 $124,000 To the class of 2016 $122,250 To the class of 2017 $124,000 To the class of 2018 $127,000 To the class of 2019 $128,000 To the class of 2020 $128,000 To the class of 2021 $126,500 To the class of 2022 $156,000 To the class of 2023 $160,500
For the 2023 – 2024 academic year, Kevin’s Fund is providing financial support to 15 students matriculating at American University, Boston College (2), Champlain College, Columbia, Dartmouth, George Washington University, Liberty, Northeastern, Sacred Heart, Southern Connecticut State, UConn (2), Univeristy of Delaware, and UMass-Amherst.
| Scholarship Fund Accomplishments as of June 30, 2023 | |
| Recipients | 222 |
| Awards | $2,700,000 |
| Funding as % of Contributions | 99.5% |