Thank You From Salus University Scholarship Recipients
Salus University Scholarships Madlyn & Leonard Abramson Scholarship
Thomas L. Lewis Endowment Fund
Administrative and Professional Council Scholarship
New Jersey Academy of Optometry
Elsie Wright Memorial Scholarship
George S. Osborne Audiology Scholarship
Alma L. Boben Scholarship
Algernon A. Phillips Award
CIBA Vision Scholarship
Harry G. Phillips Scholarship
1973 Class Memorial Scholarship
Onofrey G. Rybachok Scholarship
William J. Condon Scholarship
Maria T. Rynkiewicz Scholarship
William Decter Memorial Scholarship
Herbert & Adrienne Schoenes Scholarship
Sol Deglin Memorial Scholarship
Boris I. & Bessie S. Sinoway Scholarship
Milton J. Eger Scholarship
Richard W. Stockton, OD Scholarship
Faculty Scholarship
Joseph C. Toland Memorial Scholarship
Barry Farkas Scholarship
Al & Kathryn Tordella Scholarship
Marvin Fiegelman Scholarship
Vision Benefits of America
George H. Crozier Scholarship
Vistakon Diversity Scholarship
Herbert L. Goldberger Scholarship
VSP
Lawrence Gray Neuro-Ophthalmic Scholarship
Clifford C. Wagner Scholarship
Martin & Florence Hafter Scholarship
Doris A. Wagner Scholarship
Edward Hueber Scholarship
William G. Walton Scholarship
A. Michael Iatesta Scholarship
Harold & Ginny Wiener Scholarship
Harry Kaplan Scholarship
Melvin D. Wolfberg Scholarship
J. Donald Kratz Scholarship
“Thank you so much for your generous donation towards my optometric education. I am truly honored to be the recipient of your scholarship. I am currently studying for the National Boards of Examiners in Optometry and will be leaving for my clinical rotations in a few short months. This donation has helped me more than you know and I appreciate it tremendously!”
Andrea Lubunski – Optometry
“I appreciate the scholarship tremendously and want to thank the donors from the bottom of my heart. I make every little bit go a long way. I look forward to the day (that’s coming soon!) when I have a good job in this great profession and can similarly give back to others.”
Heidi Olean - Optometry
“I would like to personally thank you for helping me in my journey to becoming an optometrist. Your generous contributions have touched so many students, myself included. I am a 4th year student currently and I will be serving our nation as an optometrist for the United States Army upon graduation this May. This is made possible through your efforts to help the students of Salus University. I again would like to thank you for all your contributions to this great university and helping to advance health care professions such as optometry.”
Kristen Cabrera – Optometry Class of 2020
For the 2019-2020 award year, $123,650 in endowed scholarships were awarded to 113 Salus University students.
“I am extremely grateful and honored to have received this scholarship. Please share my deepest appreciation with the donor!”
Tanya Malhotra – Optometry Class of 2021
“I am in my second year of Optometry school and I recently got married about 6 months ago! Between school, a wedding and planning for our future, receiving a scholarship like this is so helpful. I would just like to say a special thank you for your generosity and your contribution to my future. Thank you!”
Maggie Briceland - Optometry
Salus University students have received over $1.8 million in scholarships and grants this academic year.
“I wanted to take this opportunity to say thank you. I work very hard, am extremely passionate, driven and serious about optometry and my education. It is so rewarding to be able to be recognized for my hard work. This money allowed me to get extra textbooks for clinic, as well as provide me funds to now be able to go on a mission trip to Panama with our school. It opened up a door of opportunity that I would not have been able to do otherwise. Thank you again from the bottom of my heart, I really appreciate it.”
Lucia Leone – Optometry
“I would like to express my appreciation and gratitude for the generous scholarship that I have been awarded. These funds will be applied towards my Optometry graduate school tuition. I hope one day I will be able to help students achieve their goals just as you have helped me. Thank you for your generosity”
Kiera Jeschke – Optometry
“I am writing to thank you for your generous scholarship. I was very happy and appreciative to hear that I was selected as the recipient of your scholarship. I am a second year Optometry student at Pennsylvania College of Optometry, and I plan to pursue a residency in Ocular diseases upon graduation. Also, I am currently managing a full-time coursework while spending 16 hours a week in the clinic getting a hands-on experience seeing patients. After residency, I plan to return to New Jersey to practice. Thanks to you, I am one step closer to that goal. By awarding me the New Jersey Optometric Scholarship, you have lightened my financial burden which allows me to focus more on the most important aspect of school, learning. I hope one day I will be able to help students achieve their goals just as you have helped me.”
Pooja Patel – Optometry Class of 2022
$116,250 in endowed scholarships were awarded to 86 students during the 2018-2019 award year.
“I wanted to thank you for awarding me the Michael Iatesta Scholarship and for your generous financial support toward my higher education. I am currently a second year student in the 3-year Accelerated Scholars Optometry Program. I plan to graduate next May and hopefully pursue a residency. Ultimately, my goal is to end up in a teaching role and be a mentor to students just like so many of my great professors have been for me. I read a little bit about Dr. Iatesta and it makes this award even more of an honor considering how much I would like to follow a similar path with my career. Thank you so much again for your generosity and allowing me to worry a little bit less about paying for my education. I appreciate your kindness and willingness to help me make my goals a reality.�
Natalee Rackus
“I am very honored to be the recipient of the Toland Memorial Scholarship. I would like to take the opportunity to thank you for your generosity. I am currently a 2nd year student at The Pennsylvania College of Optometry (Salus University) and my GPA is 3.62. My goal is to complete my doctorate degree there and work in a private practice. I was born and raised in Erie, Pennsylvania where I also completed my undergraduate studies at Pennsylvania State University; The Behrend College. At Behrend I was involved in a 3+4 Pre-Optometry program where I was given the opportunity to complete my undergraduate prerequisite coursework in 3 years. I was then granted early acceptance at Salus to complete my dream to be an optometrist. While attending Salus, I have been involved with the Beta Sigma Kappa International Optometric Honor Society. Additionally, I am a Teaching Assistant; in which I collaborate with other peers to hold group review sessions for the first-year students using self-generated questions. Receiving this scholarship motivates me to maintain my GPA and complete my degree. These funds have greatly assisted in paying for tuition and living expenses during my time at Salus. My father passed away in 2011, resulting in a single income household. This scholarship has greatly aided, my mother and I, in reducing our financial burden and stress associated with moving away from home. I thank you for your confidence and willingness to help me achieve my goals.”
Carrie Hilinski - Optometry
The average GPA for endowed scholarship recipients in 2019-2020 is 3.73.
“As a recipient of the Florence and Martin Hafter Scholarship I would like to extend my gratitude for your generous donation. Thanks to you as well as other generous donors’ students are given an opportunity to decrease their debt load and further their education. I grew up in Mount Pleasant, a small town an hour outside of Pittsburgh. It is certainly a more rural area than where I currently reside in Philadelphia. After my schooling is complete, I hope to return to the area or a similar area in which I can provide health care to those who may not find it easily accessible. I enjoy the small community with familiar faces that always wish you the best of luck in current endeavors. Although, the current area may not be as closely knit, I have enjoyed my time at The Eye Institute. Patients are friendly and understand that the care they are receiving is well worth the wait. I was lucky enough to have multiple encounters with one of my patients already and when she recognized me, she had a bright smile. This reminded me of interactions from my hometown and I am grateful to know that I have positively impacted someone else’s life during my short time at Salus.This scholarship is a reminder of the positive impact people can have on others through selfless acts. My research advisor during my undergraduate education at Saint Vincent College is a wonderful example of this. He guided me through my dry eye research and enabled me to develop my knowledge base, which has led me here today. This research was the beginning of my career and I hope to specialize in this often-overlooked disease to provide comfort for those constantly in pain. Finally, I would like to further explain the gratitude I have for this financial reward during this time of my life. I will be marrying my high school sweetheart this June on the 13th. She is two years younger than I and we have been dating for seven years. For the first time we will be living together after we are wed and will begin the next chapter in our lives. We recognize the financial burden we face with our growing debt and the limitations this will have on our married life. This reward helps to reduce those demands and we are grateful for your generosity.”
Tyler McFadden - Optometry
“Thank you for your generous donation towards the Billmeier scholarship. Optometry school is a huge financial commitment and every dollar helps towards funding my education. I am very honored to not only be chosen for this scholarship, but also know that there are donors that care so much about the future of optometry. Thank you for willingly giving your time and money to help me further my education. I am currently a second year optometry student and have begun my adventures in clinic. I have enjoyed seeing patients and growing in my clinic skills. Along with starting clinic this semester, I am also in the middle of contacting sites for externship rotations that start next March. I am very excited to see the opportunities that await, but again I am very thankful for the financial support that makes all of these steps more focused on the experience and less stressed financially.”
Heather McKay – Optometry
“I am sincerely honored to have been selected as a recipient of the Toland Memorial Scholarship. I am very appreciative of your generous support in my education and career. Reflecting on the past year and a half of my graduate school education, I realize I have diligently and persistently put forth a tremendous amount of effort to get to where I am today, and had the privilege of working alongside a talented and outstanding group of doctors. Acknowledgement of my hard work in the form of a scholarship is extremely rewarding. As a second year optometry student, my future career is very close in sight. After graduating from PCO in spring of 2022, I aim to complete a residency. I would like to express my sincere gratitude for your support. Because of your generosity, the financial burden placed on me to pursue my education will be lessened. I aspire to one day be able to pay it forward to a student in need. Thank you for your investment in PCO and supporting the future of students like me.�
Ravneet Meeta - Optometry Class of 2022
Scholarships were awarded from 58 different endowed funds.
“I am so thankful to have received a scholarship this semester. It truly takes off so much pressure and worry about loans or working for rent, etc. This allows me to just focus on my studies rather than focus on tuition. Thank you again for your support!”
Payton Burke – Audiology
“I am extremely grateful for your generosity in donating money towards a scholarship for a student. I am very lucky to have been one of the recipients. I currently am working to graduate with no student loans, and your contribution helped me to get a little bit closer to that goal. Just wanted to thank you for that, and wish you all the best in 2020.”
Ashley Zemeski – Audiology
“I would like to thank my donor greatly for this scholarship. As additional school expenses have been accruing, trying to work while maintaining a high GPA has become increasingly difficult. Your award to me has helped alleviate some of that stress and I want to thank you very much.�
Carley Popielski - Audiology Class of 2022