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Meet the first Whitman Partners Scholarship recipient!

March 2, 2018

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Meet the first Whitman Partners Scholarship recipient!

Hunter Counselman to earn BSN degree

This fall Whitman Partners awarded its first-ever $1,000 scholarship, which was offered to eligible Whitman Partners candidates and their family members. The scholarships are designated for college tuition, degree certification, or specialized training in the field of perioperative nursing or leadership.

After staff deliberation, Whitman Partners chose Hunter Counselman, a first-year BSN student at Anderson University in South Carolina. Hunter is the son of Whitman Partners candidate Rob Counselman, Director of Surgical Services at Holston Valley Medical Center, Kingsport, Tennessee.

Hunter entered Anderson University with a stated goal—achieving a Bachelor of Science in Nursing degree in four years. “I went into college initially questioning whether I wanted to go in as decided, because most people say, ‘It’s not really college if you don’t change your major a couple of times.’ But I found something I like, and have a passion
for in nursing,” he says. After he earns his BSN, he hopes to attend graduate school to become either a nurse anesthetist or an anesthesiologist.

Hunter became deeply interested in a career in surgical services about a year and a half ago when his father brought him to his workplace, Columbus Regional Healthcare System in Whiteville, North Carolina, to shadow him in surgery. “Ever since the time I shadowed I wanted to pursue a career as an anesthetist or anesthesiologist. I thought it was really cool how such a small thing was such a vital part of the surgery,” says Hunter.

Hunter has a strong commitment to service, having cared for children after school and in church, and having worked in an equestrian program for deaf and blind children. In his scholarship application, he wrote, “I believe that everything, no matter how small, done for someone else can make such a huge impact on someone else’s life—whether that’s being there to help a mother bring life into this world or being there for an elderly patient whose next journey is about to begin. I know that if I was given the opportunity to make a difference in other people’s lives for the better, I would take it.”

Congratulations to Hunter and his family! Whitman Partners will continue to award these scholarships, so please consider this for you or your family members. We encourage you to apply through the Whitman Partners website.