Audrey B. Mastroianni College Scholarship

Anthony was five years old when he found out that his mom was diagnosed with stage three breast cancer. “Not only did this take a physical and emotional toll on her, but also took a huge emotional toll on everyone close to her. My immediate family was especially affected by the situation. We struggled to pay for bills, food and other expenses. Thankfully, some people were willing to help us pay bills, cook food and provide us basic needs like helping us clean the house.” Of course, being so young, I didn't fully comprehend the severity of our situation. My focus was on mom. Why was I being forced to keep away from her loving embrace while she underwent chemo? Being an only child, she was my world. It was the single hardest obstacle to overcome. Now understanding the severity of the situation, I am extremely grateful that my mom was so brave to defeat cancer.” While his family was able to get help with her medical bills, they were still left in deficit for his college amount after years of not being able to save money. “With the scholarship from UBCF, I was able to take out less student loans, possibly making it possible to leave college with no student debt. I am extremely grateful for the help UBCF has been generous enough to award me with. With some help and hard work, I will be able to pay off college without allowing it to be a financial burden to me.”

I just want to formally say thank you so much for this scholarship I can’t even begin to
tell you how happy my family and I are to be receiving this awesome scholarship. It
will help me so much with paying for college. I am currently working 3 jobs to try to pay
for a good education. This scholarship will help me greatly because as you know, my
mother passed away from breast cancer and it has been hard on my dad trying to raise four kids and sending us all off to college in the future. With my mom passing, it’s been very hard on me and my family, but especially me being the only girl and having to step up my responsibilities event at a very young age. Thank you so much, what you’ve done is something I can never forget and something I will always be grateful for.

My name is Destiny Wagner and I am eight teen years old. I will be attending Manhattanville College in New York in the fall. My experience in high school definitely attributed to my success now.

My sophomore year in high school my mom got diagnosed with stage 3 breast cancer. The day she told my sister and I, the sidewalk seemed a thousand miles longer. I’ve never known anyone personally with cancer and what I did know about cancer was not enough to help my mom. I took it upon myself to learn more about the disease and my mother and I grew close. I prayed so much for my mother to get better, but once she started chemo, she was like a completely different person. When I thought her days couldn’t get any worse, they did and when I was certain she didn’t have any more fight left, she sure enough did.

I just want to thank the United Breast cancer fund because I don’t know how I would be able to go to school. Thank you so much and A million prayers to you all.

I would like to express my sincere gratitude and appreciation for have being selected as a recipient of the Fall 2014 Audrey B. Mastroianni Scholarship. This scholarship will help me to finance my nursing education at Drexel University. I would like to thank the very generous donors who have made this possible. I promise to honor both my mother’s memory and Audrey Mastroianni by studying hard and, ultimately helping others while working in my chosen profession.

My mother was diagnosed with stage 3b breast cancer during my freshman year of high school. At that time she was tested for the BRCA gene mutation and found out that she was a carrier. My grandmother, aunt, and cousin all tested positive as well. The impact of my mother’s diagnosis and the risk that my closest relatives (and possibly I) faced was devastating to my entire family. During that period of time, I do not recall a day when I was not visiting someone in the hospital, as my relatives were undergoing prophylactic mastectomies and oophorectomies and my mother was undergoing surgeries, chemotherapy, radiation and suffered from numerous complications. This situation was devastating both emotionally and financially, as my mother was a single mom and was unable to continue working as her cancer had metastasized. My grandparents and aunt shared the responsibility of caring for me and my mother. After a great deal of suffering, my mother passed away in May of 2011 and my aunt and uncle assumed legal guardianship for me as my father and I had been estranged during my mother’s illness.

Because I have had the love and support of my family throughout this ordeal, I am currently attending Drexel University, where I am studying nursing in honor of my mother’s courageous battle with breast cancer.

Kevin is pursuing his Master’s in Political Management from The George Washington University in Washington, D.C. In addition to his studies, Kevin also works as an Account Executive with FLS Connect, a political services and voter outreach firm in Saint Paul, MN. Both his studies and his career allow Kevin to live out his passion for the American political process and receiving this scholarship helps with that.

“I am extremely grateful to the UBCF for their support and their generous assistance. Because of their help, I will be able to continue pursuing my Master’s degree.”

I would like to thank you for your continued support to college students through this scholarship. Thank you for making a huge difference for Michael. Without this scholarship, I’m not sure how he would continue his education.

To my friends at UBCF, I want to say thank you for all your generous help with my graduate school tuition. Thankfully I completed the program last week and passed my board examination! Today I am a Family Advanced Practice Nurse! Please relay my appreciation to the key players there!