When you give to Lander University, you’re not just making another charitable contribution. You’re helping young people live their dreams.
Nicholas Foray, of Waxhaw, North Carolina, has already graduated from Lander University with a history degree and secondary teaching certificate, but his time at Lander got off to a rough start.
“When I first got to Lander University, I was lost,” he said. He spent too much time “hanging out with friends and ignoring schoolwork,” and his grades suffered.
“This habit would continue into the next year and progressively got worse,” he said. During his junior year, he became ineligible to play or practice with the Lander Bearcats baseball team due to his grades. He felt as if he “had lost all respect from everybody I admired. I felt like a failure.”
Foray, the recipient of a Randy Bouknight Scholarship, said that he “finally decided to do something with my life and went hard to work at making my comeback.” Making all A’s in his classes, he regained his athletic eligibility, became the Friday night starting pitcher and got an opportunity to play for the Savannah Bananas baseball team. The following year he remained the Bearcats’ Friday night pitcher and graduated with his bachelor’s degree.
Foray is “back this year with an opportunity to receive my MBA, teach LINK 101, and share my story to help students succeed to the highest degree.”
Foray said that his scholarship “means so much to me.” Without it, and the people who supported him, “I would not be where I am today,” he said. “So on behalf of all the Lander scholarship recipients, I want to say thank you for believing in us.”
Visit giving/lander.edu to learn more.