Members of The Women's Roundtable board of directors with the 2010-2011 Women's Roundtable Access Scholarship recipients.
2009-2010 and 2010-2011 Women’s Roundtable Access Scholarship Recipients Tabitha Reel and Alaina McMahon
Tabitha Reel, one recipient of the 299-2010 and 2010-2011 Women’s Roundtable Access Scholarships, is a junior at ECU with plans to attend medical school. The daughter of an ECU alumna, a graduate of North Pitt High School in Bethel, N.C., and a Greenville resident most of her life, Reel knows firsthand the effect ECU has on the region and its citizens. She has wanted to be a surgeon “forever,” works at Pitt County Memorial Hospital part-time as a physical therapy technician, and plans to apply to Brody School of Medicine and St. George’s University Medical School after graduation.
At ECU, Reel is conducting undergraduate genetic research, examining genetic mutations in flies to find the cancer gene. Before deciding to come to ECU, she applied and was accepted at UNC-Chapel Hill, Duke University, and Wake Forest University, but decided to attend East Carolina because of the scholarships she received.
“Access Scholarships help students get on their feet and not worry about finances and focus in their education,” Reel said. “My parents are struggling themselves. The Access Scholarship lets me live without a whole lot of stress.”
Students that receive Access Scholarships are required to complete at least 20 hours of volunteer time through ECU’s Volunteer & Service-Learning Center. Reel volunteered at Belvoir Elementary School her first year and has volunteered with Habitat for Humanity of Pitt County since then.
“I work in the warehouse and receive the donations,” she said. “And a lot of times, we go out into the community and try to get people to donate stuff, and try to get people to realize, ‘hey, if you donate this stuff to Habitat, you can write it off your taxes.’”
Alaina McMahon, the second recipient of the 2009-2010 and 2010-2011 Women’s Roundtable Access Scholarship, is in her sophomore year at East Carolina. A member of ECU’s honor program, she is the youngest of three sisters that have attended East Carolina. McMahon’s older sister, Lauren, is currently pursuing a degree in elementary education at ECU, and Jessica, her eldest sister, earned a degree through the university’s distance education program.
Originally from Potters Hill, N.C., McMahon has always wanted to be a neonatal nurse and wants to work in the nursery at New Hanover Regional Medical Center in Wilmington, N.C.
“I’ve always wanted to be a baby nurse,” she said. “I just like babies.”
She also loves animals, and spends much of her extra time with her four mules, cat, dog, and cockatiel in Potters Hill. For her volunteer requirement, McMahon plans to volunteer for the Humane Society of Eastern Carolina.
“I’m pretty excited that I'm going to be spending some time at the Humane Society,” she said. “I love animals and I can't wait to start.”
McMahon chose to come to ECU in part because of a female role model, her mother, who always wanted to attend college.
“I’m fulfilling her dream,” McMahon said.
