2009 Scholarship Winners

Over the past five years, Page's Memorial Foundation has been able to award nearly $100,000 in scholarships to students with CF and has donated over $121,000 to the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation to further research for a cure.

Congratulations to our 2009 scholarship winners! These three students are sharing a total of $15,000 in scholarships to use toward their college education.

Tim Bednar
Mary Merony
Katherine (Kasey) Seymour

As part of the application process, each applicant was required to submit an essay. In some cases, the essays addressed what advice the applicant would give to parents of newly diagnosed children; in others, the applicant wrote about their own personal goals and challenges with CF. The following paragraphs are excerpts from their essays, used with their permission.

A Note to Politicians Regarding CF Medical Research:
As you can imagine, this diagnosis threw my world upside down and the more I learned about CF, the more frustrated and fearful I become about living my life with this disease. I have become determined to something about his disease and current prognosis. With my engineering degree I want to make a difference in the human condition. People should not have to suffer or have their time on earth shortened through no fault of their own. I beg you to consider federal funding for CF to I will be able to pour myself into technical research to fight this disease. Please use me in this fight to do my best to provide the possible outcomes with your dollars, for me, my brother and all of those affected now and in the future."

Growing up with Cystic Fibrosis, I have faced many challenges. I have learned how to push through difficult circumstances, painful operations and annoying doctor's visit. So over the past two years, I have found a new activity that I enjoy very much, something that teaches me about myself, speaking to others about this disease. This has helped me to reflect upon the lessons I have learned. It causes me to stop and thank the people around me for all of the support I've received. I look forward to the future, whatever it holds. As more speaking opportunities arise, I will take them joyfully! I have come to realize that even if it encourages only one person in the audience this is worth it to me!

I felt alone without anyone to talk to about this horrible disease. Then in the spring of my freshman year, I started to take back my life from CF. I began speaking publically to groups about Cystic Fibrosis. I started telling others why I couldn't do sports or why I simply couldn't keep up with their pace as we walked from class to class. People began to see the real me. I realize that it is up to me to educate people about CF in order to find a cure.

Previous Winners