Ruskin High School Senior, Adriana Morfin, has earned the George C Brooks Scholarship from the University of Missouri. This award is a competitive scholarship at MU for undergraduate students from underrepresented ethnic groups seeking admission on the Columbia campus.  After writing an essay and going through an extensive interview process, Adriana was selected to be a Brooks Scholarship recipient. The scholarship is $8,000 per academic year, and totals $32,000 over the course of four years.

Currently in the Health Care Pathways Program, Adriana plans to study nursing at MU.

“I have always wanted to help people, even save someone’s life,” Adriana said. “I didn’t realize the complex the body is. The capstone program has really helped me build my critical thinking skills, preparing me for college.”

Adriana, and her partner, Elliana Wandick, are currently developing a more humane muzzle in partnership with Wayside Waifs. The capstone program partners students from two different pathway programs to work together to develop a solution to a real-world problem.

“Dream big,” Adriana. “Just because you’re in a place that people may not like doesn’t mean you are any less worthy of what you can have.”

About the George C. Brooks Scholarship
The George C. Brooks Award is a competitive scholarship for undergraduate students from ethnic groups that are underrepresented at MU. It is named after George C. Brooks, who spent 25 years at Mizzou, including 17 years as director of financial aid. During that time, he started the university’s work-study program and helped recruit the university’s first black faculty member, Arvarh Strickland. The university, recognizing the educational benefits of a varied student body, launched the scholarship to improve recruitment and retention of students from underrepresented racial and ethnic groups. Since then, Mizzou has welcomed more than one thousand Brooks Scholars.