For immediate release — June 4, 2010
(DALLAS) — At one point in his young life, Landon Gregory could have decided that he had no real future — no option to become a firefighter or to consider a career in kinesiology to help others lead active, healthy lives. But instead of succumbing to leukemia and giving up on life, he decided to fight back and get the education he needed to start the career of his dreams. Now Landon wants to give back in some way to those who helped him through those tough times.
Many continents away, in Nepal, Shradha Singh grew up as a carefree child and then decided to travel to the United States on a student visa to go to school. Only months after her arrival, Shradha was involved in an accident that resulted in two broken vertebrae and that left her debilitated for months, forcing her to drop out of school. Unwilling to burden her parents with the knowledge that she was ill, Shradha kept the accident and her problems a secret until she learned from doctors and physical therapists how to walk again. She returned to school a year after her accident.
Gregory and Singh battled adverse conditions in their lives and sought to grow and improve themselves, in spite of those challenges. Their successes will be recognized when they receive the 2010 Erin Tierney Kramp Encouragement Scholarship Award during a special program on Thursday, June 17, at a local Dallas restaurant. The event will be hosted by the Erin Tierney Kramp Encouragement Foundation’s board of directors and the Dallas County Community College District Foundation.
The scholarships will help Gregory, a resident of Mesquite, and Singh, a resident of Dallas, reach for their dreams with financial support provided by the Erin Tierney Kramp Encouragement Scholarship Award, which covers full tuition and books for up to four semesters. Gregory is majoring in kinesiology at Richland College, and Singh is majoring in physical therapy at Brookhaven College.
The courage and perseverance shown by both recipients in the face of adversity are traits exhibited by the person for whom the award is named. Erin Tierney Kramp, who fought
breast cancer from 1994 to 1998, created a videotaped legacy on “life lessons” for her young daughter that would convey Erin’s views and advice to Peyton as the young girl grew up, following her mother’s death. Erin touched many lives and inspired countless strangers when she co-authored “Living With the End in Mind” (with her husband and a family friend) and through appearances on programs like “20/20” and “The Oprah Winfrey Show.” Her legacy lives on through the Kramp Foundation, the DCCCD scholarship program and the lives of all recipients.
“The Erin Tierney Kramp program awards scholarships to students based on their courage and perseverance in the face of adversity,” said Michael Brown, president of the Erin Tierney Kramp Foundation. “We see these qualities in Landon and Shradha, who bravely survived their own challenges and who plan to help others by going to college and preparing for careers that will serve others. Their stories exemplify what our past recipients have demonstrated repeatedly through Erin’s legacy. When individuals face adversity, the struggles that they endure will either make them stronger or defeat them. Winning that battle requires courage and perseverance. Landon Gregory and Shradha Singh have proven they possess both traits, and they truly deserve this honor.”
Shradha Singh
Shradha experienced change in her life as well — she went from the mountains of Nepal and the security of her family to a foreign country where she knew that college and a better education would change her life forever. She did not, however, foresee the accident that would change her life for more than a year and take her on a journey through pain and perseverance as she learned how to walk again and how eventually to share that burden and triumph with her parents.
Traveling more than 8,000 miles to the United States from Nepal was a big step for Shradha, who says, “My dream of coming to the U.S. for my higher education and getting my (student visa) was no joke. I worked very hard to get my visa and, when I received it, I was on top of the world. I knew that living in a different country would be a big challenge — especially living away from my family — but I was excited to begin my new life.”
Arriving in the U.S. in the summer of 2007, Shradha began settling into her new life. In November of that year, she was involved in an accident and was rushed to the hospital. Doctors could not immediately find any problems, even though Shradha was in extreme pain and almost unable to move. With two broken vertebrae, plus a bruised liver and ribs, she eventually was told that she could recuperate with a brace and a walker (instead of surgery). “That day, I cried a lot,” she recalls. “I am a very hardworking person. I never dreamed of being disabled. Unfortunately, I had to accept the facts and stay positive.” While she decided not to tell her parents, Shradha was forced to drop out of school. Her two roommates took care of her, and she eventually told her family when she had made positive advances in her recovery.
“My doctor and my physical therapist ... gave me a second life,” remembers Shradha. “Then, in fall 2008, I went back to school and started with ESOL at Brookhaven College because I was an international student and had not studied for more than year. I am proud that I am an honor student with a 4.0 GPA. My accident was a turning point in my life. I have seen the power of God and have decided to help people as much as I can. My goal is to earn a doctoral degree in physical therapy from Texas Woman’s University and also to get a degree in psychology, which will help me better understand and feel the pain of my patients.”
Singh, a member of the service fraternity Alpha Phi Omega, is a senator in the BHC Student Government Association, a member of the Brookhaven UN Club and a student assistant in the BHC Multicultural Center. She also helps ESOL students as a volunteer for the Conversational Partner Program. Shradha says, “Being an international student, I know exactly how they feel when they have moved to a new place and have to speak a different language.”
She adds, “I have always worked hard in my life and will always do so. My parents have given me so much; now it’s time for me to give them happiness. My success not only will help me make it to the top; it will make my college, my parents and my brother proud of me. The incident that happened to me has made me the person I am today. I am very confident; I am diligent in my work; I am independent; and, most importantly, I have become a strong woman and a leader.”
For more information, contact Kathye Hammontree, director of board and donor relations for the DCCCD Foundation, at (214) 378-1536.
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Press contact: Ann Hatch
214-378-1819;
ahatch@dcccd.edu
or
Kathye Hammontree
214-378-1536