Aimee Teffeteller, right, was the grand prize winner of a full tuition scholarship at Tusculum College. At left is LeAnn Hughes, vice president of marketing and enrollment management at Tusculum College.
Aimee Teffeteller of Townsend was the winner of a full tuition scholarship to Tusculum College in the “Finish Strong” essay competition. Winners and finalists were announced on Thursday, Oct. 22, at Tusculum College’s Knoxville Regional Center.
“We are pleased to announce the winner and to welcome her to the Tusculum College family,” said LeAnn Hughes, vice president for enrollment management and marketing at Tusculum College. “The Tusculum College Finish Strong Scholarship Giveaway recognizes the hard work and sacrifices our adult students put forth when returning to school to finish their degree.”
She added, “Tusculum has always been committed to providing education to the community in meaningful ways. As the first in the region to offer accredited adult-oriented degree programs, we furthered our commitment to making lifelong education possible for those living in the communities we serve.
“Balancing work, family and school can be challenging, and our adult students put in a great deal of time, effort, heart and soul to fulfill their dream of a college degree. This Scholarship Giveaway is a great opportunity for the Tusculum community to honor these Pioneers who go the extra mile to further the future of their families.”
First runner up and finalists were also announced and received recognition. First runner up was Donnie Todd Spence of Sevierville. Finalists were Deanna Hutcheson of Kingston, Joshua Higgins of Maryville and Keith Phillips of LaFollette.
Finish Strong finalists included, from left, Todd Spence, Aimee Teffeteller, Joshua Higgins, Deanna Hutcheson and Keith Phillips.
“While it is our extreme pleasure to be able to offer this scholarship to the winner, it was not easy to choose one from the five worthy finalists. We hope that each of you will continue to seek out ways to attain your degree because you all exhibit qualities key to succeeding: perseverance, strong work ethic and an unwavering commitment to your goal,” said Hughes.
In her winning essay, Teffeteller wrote about turning dreams into plans, sharing how obtaining her bachelor’s degree would mean she would finally have a career, instead of a job. As a single mother to her 7-year-old daughter, she works two jobs to help make sure her child’s needs are met.
Her passion is working with children and she works as a bus driver for Blount County Schools during the morning and afternoon and, in between, she works as a Special Education teaching assistant at Mary Blount Elementary School. Her hope is to attain her degree so that she may become a licensed teacher.
She shared that, “There are few things more gratifying than the look of pride and excitement on a child’s face the first time they realize that they ‘got it’.” Exhibiting true determination to achieve her degree, she went on to state that, “…the question is not if I will complete my degree, but when.”
Getting people back to school to finish their degrees is life changing, said Lindsey Seal, director of Graduate and Professional Studies enrollment. “Through this essay contest, we learned individual stories of our students and hope to be able to share them with others who wish to follow in their footsteps.”
The grand prize package consists of a tuition-paid scholarship to one of Tusculum College’s degree-completion programs which can be redeemed at any of the Knoxville, Morristown or Greeneville locations and can be applied to pay all of the regular tuition charges for an undergraduate degree-completion program in business administration, management, interdisciplinary studies (education, K-5) and psychology, behavioral health concentration.
For more information on Tusculum’s degree programs of financial aid, contact the Admissions Office at 888.488.7285.