ROME — Several local students were recognized for their academic performance at the Rome College Foundation Scholarship Luncheon on Tuesday, Feb. 14, at the Rome campus of Mohawk Valley Community College, 1101 Floyd Ave., with foundation President Suzanne Carvelli awarding five scholarships. 

The Rome College Foundation Scholarship is presented to outstanding students based on academic performance, financial need, community service, motivation for pursuing chosen field of study/career and additional criteria specific to this award.

Each candidate’s home address must be in the Rome City School District to be eligible. This year, the foundation recognized three students as the 33rd group of annual recipients.  

They include:

Brittany Seymour, a student at Mohawk Valley Community College pursuing a degree in chemical dependency practitioner.  In her essay, Seymour outlined her desire to help people that have gone through life challenges with drugs and alcohol and help them to seek the path to recovery. Her desire is to show her future clients that she can be that trusting force in their recovery. Seymour, a single mother of three children, works full time as a driver for developmentally disabled individuals and yet still was able to receive the MVCC President’s Award for achieving a 4.0 grade point average.    

Nicholas Rossi, a student at the SUNY Polytechnic Institute in Marcy pursuing a degree in business administration and accounting. Rossi has been named to the President’s Excellence List every semester he has been at SUNY Poly. Rossi stated in his essay that he is hoping to pursue a position with a local entity as he is very connected to his hometown of Rome. He enjoys giving back to the local community and is a volunteer firefighter and emergency medical technician for the Lee Center Fire Department.  

Tristan Hunzinger, a student at Utica University pursuing a graduate degree in its physical therapy program. After receiving his degree and license as a physical therapist, Hunzinger has a goal of opening his own outpatient orthopedic physical therapy clinic.

The Rome Professional & Businesswomen Scholarship, made possible by the Professional and Businesswomen of Rome, a local chapter of New York State Women Inc., was awarded to Kim Clark, a full-time student at MVCC in the nursing program. Clark recently graduated in the top 10 from the Licensed Practical Nurse program at Madison-Oneida BOCES and is also working in a doctor’s office at Upstate University.

The Rome Professional & Businesswomen Scholarship supports the mission of the PBW of Rome, which is to build powerful women personally, professionally and politically.

Clark said that nursing has always been her passion, and decided to obtain her nursing degree after raising her seven children and the youngest left for college.  

The foundation also awarded the Charles T. Beeching/Revere Copper Products Family Scholarship which was established in the late 1990s by Revere Cooper Products and administered by the Rome College Foundation. This award honors the memory of Charles T. Beeching, who was instrumental in efforts that led to Revere becoming a locally owned company. Scholarship candidates must be the son or daughter of an employee/owner of Revere. 

This year’s Beeching Award recipient is Mckayla Ganci, who is studying psychology at Herkimer County Community College. Ganci is especially interested in forensic psychology and criminology, and she hopes to attend either SUNY Binghamton or SUNY Brockport to continue her education in this field.