Student Profiles

By Eva Luter, MA in Journalism Growing up in Tchula, MS, a tiny town with just under 1,500 residents, Jatoni Donelson saw what happens when people can’t get proper medical care. “Being from a rural area, I know that there’s always a great need for healthcare. Since I grew up in the small town that I did, I got to see a lot that I would want to change in rural healthcare, and that’s why I want to be in more...

Grove Scholar Profile: Trynica Wash

By Jaylin R. Smith, MA in Journalism “I believe I have a calling to be here,” Grove Scholar Trynica Wash said. A first-generation college student from Newton, Mississippi, Wash is a senior majoring in Allied Health and minoring in African American studies. With aspirations to become a pediatric nurse, Wash wants to provide medical resources to children in underserved communities. Attending the University of Mississippi was an easy choice for Wash. She said she was drawn to the institution by more...

Grove Scholar Profile: Corbin Cadigan

Ole Miss Grove Scholar Soars to Success by Delila Nakaidinae, MA in Journalism Corbin Cadigan had big dreams when leaving the Mississippi Gulf Coast for college. Traveling from the beaches of Biloxi, Mississippi all the way to Hotty Toddy land, the lifelong Ole Miss fan is now only a few months away from graduating. “It has definitely been a long, bumpy road along the way, just because you have to get used to the transition from high school to college,” more...

Grove Scholar Profile: Brittney Banks

By Jared Redding, M.A. in Journalism Growing up in McComb, Mississippi, Brittney Banks had an interest in studying science thanks to the mentoring she received from one of her teachers at North Pike High School. However, the biggest hurdle in accomplishing her goal was being able to aﬀord that education. The Grove Scholars program and the Ole Miss Opportunity Scholarship gave her the chance to chase her dream of studying in a Science, Technology, Engineering or Mathematics (STEM) field. Banks more...

Grove Scholar Profile: Harry Hall

By Allie Watson, MA in Journalism Born and raised on the Mississippi Gulf Coast, Harry Hall always knew he wanted to help others. The University of Mississippi sociology major is looking forward to putting both his major and a minor in psychology to use once he graduates. “Psychology is so fascinating to me. I enjoy learning why people are the way they are. I also love to learn and know interesting facts,” Hall said. After graduating from St. Martin High more...

Grove Scholar Profile: Chandler Tolbert

By: Hayden Wiggs, Journalism Graduate Student Chandler Tolbert of Philadelphia, Mississippi, graduated in December 2022 with a B.S. in Allied Health Studies. He’s now working as a patient care technician in the intensive care unit at Anderson Regional Medical Center in Meridian. When Tolbert first decided to go to college, he said he was looking for schools that would allow him to create lasting friendships while also receiving a top-notch education in a STEM-related field. He said he was attracted more...

Grove Scholar Profile: Maya Clay

— By Bailey Durfey, M.A. Higher Education, class of 2023 The start to Maya Gaberil Clay’s college journey was a bit different. After graduating high school in May 2019, Maya was packing up to attend basic training starting her military career while others prepared to start college. After returning to her hometown of Louisville, MS, from basic training, Maya recounts being home for 14 days until the world essentially shut down from Covid-19. However, this did not stop Maya more...

Grove Scholar Profile: Shalini Patel

— By Bailey Durfey, M.A. Higher Education, class of 2023 Shalini Ashok Patel, a native of Oxford, MS, is a Psychology and Spanish double major with two minors in Chemistry and Neuroscience. After graduation, Shalini plans to attend medical school with the goal to become a neurosurgeon. Back when she began thinking about her future in healthcare, she did not know much about mental illness. After learning of her aunt’s diagnosis of schizophrenia, Shalini reflected on the lack of more...

Grove Scholar Profile: Jon’na Bailey

— By Paris Payne, Journalism ’21 Growing up in the small town of Pickens, Miss., Sophomore Jon’na Bailey has always longed to outgrow her tiny setting. With only a handful of medical professionals in the area and most of them being Family Nurse Practitioners. Bailey decided to put her all into becoming a pediatrician. Jon’na Bailey’s determination drove her throughout high school and continued on into college. Bailey has been coming to the University of Mississippi campus ever since more...

Grove Scholars Profile: Janeisha Simpson

--- By Anne Watkins Tyson, IMC ’19 “When I first got to Ole Miss, I was unsure. But, now I can’t imagine myself anywhere else.” Janeisha Simpson, a senior from Lexington, Mississippi, is thankful to be a student at the University of Mississippi where she can be a part of the Grove Scholars program. She began her studies as a Biology major, but she is now a Psychology and Nursing major. “Psychology is just more interesting to me,” she more...

Grove Scholar Profile: Jessica Cole

April 30, 2017 - By Anne Watkins Tyson, IMC '19 “I’m known as the bee girl. I just love bees,” Jessica Cole describes. Since starting at the University of Mississippi in the fall of 2015, she has discovered her passion for bees, science, research and teaching. Jessica has always been drawn to science. She reminisces, “Science was always my love. And, you never forget your first.” Cole is a Biology major with a Professional Writing minor. She discusses why she more...

Grove Scholar Profile: Myrical Taylor

March 9, 2018 | By Anne Watkins Tyson Myrical Taylor grew up in Clarksdale, Mississippi, a small town in the Mississippi Delta where 40 percent of the residents live below the poverty line and where most students who graduate from her high school, Coahoma County High school, remain close to home. Taylor was determined to change this course. Since she was a little girl, Taylor has wanted to be a nurse, and she loves to travel. She knew that college was more...

Grove Scholar Profile: Deshauntra Green

MAY 25, 2017 | By BRITTANEE WALLACE (BA IMC ’17) Afternoon light pours into Coulter Hall, a second home for chemistry students like Deshauntra Green. “Over the course of the three years I’ve been here at Ole Miss, I have been given such a sense of community.” A Fayette, Mississippi native, Deshauntra is a junior Forensic Chemistry major. She minors in Math and is a part of the Grove Scholar program. She gravitated to Ole Miss when she heard about more...

Grove Scholar Profile: Tiara Mabry

MAY 25, 2017 | By BRITTANEE WALLACE (BA IMC ’17) Tiara Mabry’s leadership has established a lasting legacy on the campus of the University of Mississippi. She entered the university with her sights set on pursuing a career that allowed her to promote wellness practices, and established many connections by becoming very involved on campus. The Tupelo native hit the campus involvement scene confidently her freshman year. Some of her activities include MedLife member, Green Grove ambassador, and University of more...

Grove Scholar Profile: Jontae Warren

MARCH 29, 2017 | By BRITTANEE WALLACE (BA IMC '17) Jontae Warren hears the soft voice of his grandmother wishing him a good night. Moments later, tiny footsteps make the wood floor creek as an exhausted pre-schooler sneaks into the kitchen. He grabs his bedtime essentials: milk, cookies, and a Bill Nye the Science Guy picturebook. Although his late night readings have cultivated into the reading level of a junior pharmacy student, the common theme of his passion since boyhood more...

Grove Scholar Profile: Rashad Collier

MARCH 29, 2017 | By ANNE WATKINS TYSON (BA IMC '19) Sitting on the steps of the Lyceum, Rashad Collier reflects on a program that has meant so much during his time at his beloved University. “The Grove Scholars program is built off of students who are from less fortunate parts of Mississippi, like me.” Rashad, a junior computer science major from Greenville, Mississippi, started his search for schools thinking he would major in pre-med. “Being a doctor would make more...

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