Local Recipients Share Motivation for Seeking Higher Education
HILLSDALE, Mich.—Hillsdale Hospital recently awarded Samantha Reed and Stacie Shamplo with the annual Maggie Fry Memorial Scholarship, which the recipients will use to pursue a degree in nursing. Both attend Jackson College and will receive up to $5,000.
To provide aid for non-traditional students like former Hillsdale Hospital nurse Maggie Fry , Fry’s husband and friends created the scholarship fund in her memory after she passed away earlier this year. At 36 years old, Fry applied to and attended college while raising two children—much like the 2022 awardees.
Recipient Samantha Reed worked as a CNA for two years after graduating high school, when her supervisors regularly told her she would make a great nurse. Now a wife and mother to three young children, she plans to again pursue her longtime dream of a career in healthcare.
During her own personal health struggles, Reed built close relationships with her nurses. “I never forgot how those nurses made me feel,” she said. “I understood preserving dignity and showing compassion to people in their most fragile moments was the first priority.”
Recipient Stacie Shamplo, a close friend of Fry, has worked in a variety of healthcare-related roles, including as a volunteer firefighter and EMS assistant chief. The wife and mother to two shared her appreciation for teams that seek the best for their patients.
“To me, nursing is about promoting knowledge, giving strength, faith and unwavering support,” Shamplo said in her scholarship application. “To be half the nurse Maggie was would be an honor and a privilege.”
Reed and Shamplo were awarded as the inaugural recipients of the Maggie Fry Memorial Scholarship at a private ceremony on July 7. Recipients can apply for scholarship renewal annually. For more information, visit hillsdalehospital.com.
