Ava plans to major in biomedical sciences and pursue a career in medicine.
As part of CBU’s inaugural class of Day Foundation La Salle Scholars, Ava S. Ryan has already achieved many academic and personal milestones.
In order to qualify for one of the full-tuition scholarships, students must have at least a 2.5 GPA and score 25+ on the ACT or 1200+ on the SAT. They must be first-time freshmen and submit two letters of recommendation and an essay demonstrating their commitment to fairness, compassion, and leadership.
In addition to grades and test scores earned while a student at St. Benedict at Auburndale Catholic High School in Cordova, Ava was in the National Honor Society, took six AP classes, was stage manager for school plays, volunteered at the Dorothy Day House and at Feed the Need programs, and excelled on the highly competitive bowling and trap teams.
She plans to pursue a degree in biomedical sciences and loosely follow in the footsteps of her mother, a medical technologist who works in the blood banks at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital.
“My junior year of high school, I took anatomy and physiology and decided I wanted to do something in healthcare,” said Ava, who initially was hesitant to commit to the years of schooling required to earn a medical degree.
“Learning about health and the human body, I rediscovered my passion for that,” she said. “Now I am planning to go to school to be a doctor. … I like it when my friends or family come to me when something feels wrong. I like to help them find the root cause of why they might be feeling like that. If someone says they are feeling dizzy, I ask if they need water, if their blood sugar is low, if they need to eat something.”
The opportunity to go to CBU tuition-free was a huge draw for Ava, who wants to save money for medical school and other post-graduate work.
Although she has only been on campus a few weeks and “everything is so new” about college life, she already recognizes that there is something very special about CBU.
“It surprised me how far the professors are willing to go for you,” she said. “At most colleges, the professors won’t know their students’ names. Here, they are actively trying to learn our names and things about us and know us as people. It’s the opposite of what I‘ve heard from friends at different schools.”
As Ava acclimates, she plans to take advantage of the many resources on campus, including Career Services, Campus Ministry, and the Writing and Communications Corner. She also would like to join the Aspiring Physicians of CBU, the Beta Beta Beta (Tri-Beta) Biological Honor Society and clubs and organizations that support Black and Hispanic students.
