Meet the 2023 Jim Kennedy Scholarship Fund Winners
10/05/2023
Each year, the Jim Kennedy Scholarship Fund selects 15 new scholarship recipients based on financial need and demonstrated commitment to personal growth. The recipients are chosen by an independent committee. Established in 2008 and personally funded by Cox Enterprises Chairman Emeritus Jim Kennedy, the program is open to any high school senior whose parent has worked at a Cox company full-time for at least three years. The scholarship provides $10,000 annually toward the cost of tuition for up to four years if students maintain eligibility requirements for renewal.
The 2023 winners were selected from among more than 150 applicants across the Cox family of companies.
We're proud to introduce this year’s Jim Kennedy Scholarship Fund recipients:
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Student: Benjamin Bermudez Has this scholarship changed your college plans in any way? If so, how? “Thanks to the Jim Kennedy Scholarship, I can avoid taking on debt from undergraduate student loans, allowing me to continue to save for medical school and reach my goal of becoming a sports medicine physician. The scholarship not only will help me achieve my childhood goal but will also enable me to support future young patient athletes as they work to return to the game they love.” |
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Student: Ruby Camacho What is your dream career and why? “OB/GYN Women’s health has always been a true passion for me. And as a person of color, I want to be able to provide other women of color the empathetic care they deserve.” |
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Student: Dejas Cubas What is your dream career and why? “My dream career is to be a veterinarian. I've always had a passion for animals and have made it a goal of mine to dedicate my life to helping maintain their health.” |
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Student: Demarie Durazo Has this scholarship changed your college plans in any way? If so, how? “This scholarship has given me the ability to go to a university. Before this scholarship, I wouldn't have been able to afford to go to a university. I had planned on going to community college, but this scholarship has opened the door for me to go straight into university and study the courses that go along with my major.” |
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Student: Devon Gordon Has this scholarship changed your college plans in any way? If so, how? “With the cost of tuition increasing each year, the Jim Kennedy Scholarship will have a huge impact on my future academic success. It will allow me to focus my time on my studies while also gaining valuable experience through extracurricular activities and volunteering.” |
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Student: Rhyan Harding Has this scholarship changed your college plans in any way? If so, how? “I am really looking forward to the new opportunities I will have during my first year of college. I am a first-generation college student so I really don't know what there is to look forward to but I am extremely excited for what's to come. I know that this will open a whole new life for me, and I am fully ready to embrace it with open arms.” |
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Student: Isaac Henning Has this scholarship changed your college plans in any way? If so, how? “This scholarship will ensure that I have what I need to stay out of student debt. I was worried about being trapped in student loans when I am older. This has given me peace of mind and made the anxiety of entering college significantly less overwhelming.” |
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Student: Arianna LaLonde What is your dream career and why? “My dream career is to be an elementary school teacher. I absolutely love working with children, seeing them grow and learning so much every day.” |
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Student: Lillian Mahan What is your dream career and why? “I would like to become a cardio nurse because when my dad had a heart attack when I was younger, the amazing nurses and doctors saved him. That feeling of saving someone’s loved one would be incredible.” |
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Student: TreDeon Marshall What are you looking forward to the most during your freshman year of college and why? “I look forward to meeting new people, exploring new subjects, living on campus and getting involved with extracurricular activities.” |
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Student: Noah O’Keefe Has this scholarship changed your college plans in any way? If so, how? “This scholarship has helped me feel less anxious about choosing an out-of-state college by lessening the financial burden. It has allowed me to relax and finally realize my dream of attending Colorado State.” |
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Student: Tikori Pierce What are you looking forward to the most during your freshman year of college and why? “I am looking forward to connecting with different people in an atmosphere that will stimulate my growth socially and intellectually. Although there will be many new challenges, I am confident that venturing into the unknown will propel my mindset and strengthen my resolve as a new student working toward a successful future.” |
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Student: Kylie Resser “My dream career is to become a profiler in the FBI. Profilers study criminals to find out things such as why they commit certain crimes and their thought processes with it, and I find that very interesting.” |
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Student: Walker Smith Has this scholarship changed your college plans in any way? If so, how? “The Jim Kennedy Scholarship will allow me to attend my first choice of colleges and play baseball. Without this scholarship, it would have been too expensive. I am grateful for this opportunity.” |
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Student: Amarie Turner What is your dream career and why? “From a young age, my dream job has always been to become a cosmetic surgeon. I want to be able to reconstruct the bodies of those who have been through physical and emotional pain.” |
The Jim Kennedy Scholarship Fund is a component fund of the Community Foundation for Greater Atlanta (CFGA), a 501(c)(3) charitable organization, and is not a program of Cox Enterprises, Inc. Scholarship Fund applications are reviewed and recipients are selected by an independent committee appointed by CFGA.
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