Congrats to the 2015-16 Kendal Scholarship awardees

This year the BCTR awarded Kendal at Ithaca Scholarships, recognizing excellent student work in the field of gerontology, to Sylvia Lee, a sophomore in Human Biology, Health, and Society, and Arwah Yaqub, a senior in Near Eastern Studies.

Sylvia Lee

"I am so excited and grateful to receive the scholarship. Whether I become a doctor or a researcher in the future, my dream is to help elders who suffer from chronic pain. Gerontology minor has offered me a new perspective on what my role at Cornell is and can be - I’m reminded that I’m not just a distressed pre-med student, who simply works towards becoming this person in the future, but that I’m given this opportunity to start living out my visions now, here on campus."

Beyond her coursework in gerontology, Sylvia worked in Nathan Spreng’s Laboratory of Brain and Cognition in the Department of Human Development throughout her freshmen year. There she focused on analyzing and collecting research participants’ memory and cognitive data by transcribing and conducting analysis on recalled autobiographical memories during fMRI tests. This fall semester, Sylvia began work in Corinna Loeckenhoff’s Laboratory for Healthy Aging, also in the Department of Human Development.

She recently joined Alzheimer’s Help and Awareness, a student-run organization, and received training to volunteer at Clare Bridge, a Brookdale Senior Living community that serves special-care needs of individuals with Alzheimer’s disease and other forms of dementia.

Sylvia specifically has an interest in the study of neurodegenerative diseases and chronic pain in elders. She plans to pursue a career in medicine and research. Her current interest lies mostly in the molecular and neurobiological processes that underlie the causes of chronic pain in elders and how chronic pain is treated, cared for, and managed by healthcare providers and families.

Arwah Yaqub

"The Kendal Scholarship is a gracious opportunity that has helped nurture my passion for gerontology. The kind spirit and vision at the core of this award has been pivotal in helping me integrate other disciplines of study, most of which I initially believed were incongruous with the field. [the donor's] commitment to an education that elucidates the cultural, biological, and economic implications of gerontology, as well as experiential learning, is inspirational, to say the least."

Last year, Arwah served as a volunteer for MEDART, a committee associated with Cornell’s MEDLIFE student chapter. Through this committee, she provided company to residents of Ithaca’s Beechtree Center for Rehabilitation and Nursing. Many of these residents are sensory impaired, her group designed simple, weekly art projects to do with residents. Joining the Alzheimer’s Help and Awareness Club at Cornell also helped fortify Arwah's passion for gerontology.

Arwah joined Corinna Loeckenhoff's Healthy Aging Lab over a year ago. The lab research aims to better understand age differences in social relations, personality traits, and emotional experiences and to unravel the effects of these three factors in health-related behaviors and outcomes.

As an aspiring physician, she believes that an understanding of aging across the lifespan is indispensable to the profession.

The Kendal at Ithaca Scholarship

To foster a closer tie between Cornell and Kendal at Ithaca, the nearby continuing care retirement community, an anonymous Cornell alumnus and Kendal resident established a Kendal at Ithaca Scholarship in the Bronfenbrenner Center for Translational Research.

Each year, the Kendal scholarship award goes to an undergraduate or graduate student interested in gerontology. Preference is given to a student who has some hands-on experience and is anticipating a career in the field.

The donor, who built a career in the corporate world after graduating from Cornell in the 1940s, wished to remain anonymous so that the focus of the scholarship is on the Kendal/Cornell connection. The donor pointed out that “creating a closer link between the two generations of Kendal and Cornell means more students have a chance to learn about the colorful, interesting lives and careers of retirees, and more residents have an opportunity to better understand students of today – their hopes, thoughts, and dreams. Greater involvement will be very stimulating for both.”

Meghan McDarby awarded 2013-14 Kendal Scholarship

Meghan McDarby (HD, '14)  is working towards a minor in gerontology and is this year's recipient of the Kendal at Ithaca Scholarship. Meghan serves as co-program coordinator of Cornell Elderly Partnership, where her responsibilities include: fostering and maintaining visit relationships with local skilled-nursing and assisted-living facilities; working closely with academic and faculty advisors to arrange guest lectures; coordinating projects at the local nursing facilities and applying for grants to fund these projects; and facilitating relationships between Cornell students and older adults in the Ithaca community.

Meghan worked as a research assistant with Dr. Elaine Wethington between 2011-2013. She worked with Wethington and Dr. Cary Reid, Weill Cornell, on a project funded by the Translational Research Institute on Pain in Later Life about pain disparities in racial and ethnic minority older adults.  Meghan is currently completing her senior honors thesis, which is an attempt to better understand rural older adults’ attitudes about and knowledge of hospice care and how these individual-level factors may play a role in explaining the disparity in use of hospice in rural areas as compared to urban areas. For this research process, she is performing qualitative interviews with older adults in Tompkins County (Trumansburg, Groton, Ithaca, and Lansing).

Meghan visits weekly with a Kendal at Ithaca resident, who she met in January 2012 during an internship. Additionally, she has other regular visits with local elders and works with others, assisting with exercise and daily life. She recently completed a volunteer training program at Hospicare and has just begun volunteering there.

Of her work in gerontology at Cornell, Meghan says,

"... gerontology is the foundation of my future career. I aspire to be a geriatrician in a rural, under-served area in the northeast United States. I have a profound interest in end-of-life care alternatives, holistic care approaches, as well as increasing patient empowerment and health literacy for older adults. The gerontology minor has been integral in fostering the development of my long-term goals; the pairing of my individual extra-curricular experiences with the knowledge I have learned in the classroom has woven the supportive framework as I pursue my career in the field of medicine."

 

The Kendal at Ithaca Scholarship

To foster a closer tie between Cornell and Kendal at Ithaca, the nearby continuing care retirement community, an anonymous Cornell alumnus and Kendal resident established a Kendal at Ithaca Scholarship in the Bronfenbrenner Center for Translational Research.

Each year, the Kendal scholarship award goes to an undergraduate or graduate student interested in gerontology. Preference is given to a student who has some hands-on experience and is anticipating a career in the field.

The donor, who built a career in the corporate world after graduating from Cornell in the 1940s, wished to remain anonymous so that the focus of the scholarship is on the Kendal/Cornell connection. The donor pointed out that “creating a closer link between the two generations of Kendal and Cornell means more students have a chance to learn about the colorful, interesting lives and careers of retirees, and more residents have an opportunity to better understand students of today – their hopes, thoughts, and dreams. Greater involvement will be very stimulating for both.”

BCTR awards the 2012-13 Kendal Scholarship

Emily Futcher (Policy Analysis & Management, '13) has been awarded the 2012-13 Kendal at Ithaca Scholarship, given yearly to an exceptional undergraduate working towards the gerontology minor.

Emily’s ongoing involvement in the Cornell Healthy Aging Laboratory (headed by Corinna Loeckenhoff) allowed her to pursue her interests in gerontology and the promotion of well-being among older adults. In Summer 2011, Emily collaborated with masters student Justine Lewis on a research project examining age differences in regret regulation, which is currently being written up for publication. Emily also volunteered at Bridges, a local assisted living facility, and serves as the president of Cornell’s chapter of Colleges Against Cancer. In combination, Emily's work in community outreach and research, her commitment to gerontology, and plans for a career in public policy, made her an exemplary candidate for the Kendal Scholarship.

The Kendal at Ithaca Scholarship

To foster a closer tie between Cornell and Kendal at Ithaca, the nearby continuing care retirement community, an anonymous Cornell alumnus and Kendal resident established a Kendal at Ithaca Scholarship in the Bronfenbrenner Center for Translational Research housed in the College of Human Ecology.

Each year, the Kendal scholarship award goes to an undergraduate or graduate student interested in gerontology.  Preference is given to a student who has some hands-on experience and is anticipating a career in the field.

The donor, who built a career in the corporate world after graduating from Cornell in the 1940’s, wished to remain anonymous so that the focus of the scholarship is on the Kendal/ Cornell connection.  The donor pointed out that “creating a closer link between the two generations of Kendal and Cornell means more students have a chance to learn about the colorful, interesting lives and careers of retirees, and more residents have an opportunity to better understand students of today – their hopes, thoughts, and dreams.  Greater involvement will be very stimulating for both.”