Mendota High School graduating seniors, left to right, Cheyenne West, Karina Arteaga and Morgan Marquis, each received a $500 scholarship check from BPW treasurer Darla Cocanour during the BPW awards dinner on May 15. (Photo contributed)

MENDOTA - Three Mendota High School students, Karina Arteaga, Morgan Marquis, and Cheyenne West, were awarded $500 scholarships from the Mendota Business and Professional Women’s Club. The organization presented checks to the students during a dinner meeting held May 15 at The Other Side restaurant.

The Mendota BPW scholarship selection emphasizes the qualities of work ethic, community involvement, academic achievement, financial need, and personal goal setting, which each of this year’s recipients exemplified.

Arteaga, who is the daughter of Felicitas Casas, plans to attend the Universal Technical Institute to become an automotive technician. Her educational goals include inspiring other women and young girls to pursue a career in an industry where there few women and also to serve as an example that a woman can succeed if she puts her heart and mind to it.

The two people who influenced Arteaga to pursue this career were her mother and her uncle. “As a little girl, my mom always told me that I had to learn how to be independent, and she taught me how to never give up on my dreams,” she explained. “My uncle got me interested in hands-on careers, as I watched him fix my toys or my bike, and it fascinated me. I wanted to be able to fix things like he had. Since neither of them had gone to college, they told me to study hard so that I would find success in a career that I would enjoy and earn a decent living.”

Baylor University in Waco, Texas, will welcome Morgan Marquis this fall as she pursues a degree in either physics or engineering on a pre-medicine track. The daughter of Matt and Maurine Marquis, she hopes to become a pediatric specialist.

“I want to help people and bring them comfort in times where they have very little,” she said. “My grandpa died of cancer, and I knew I wanted to go into medicine after that. Also, after working with kids while tutoring at Lincoln School, I decided I would enjoy working with kids within the medical field.”

To explore her medical options, Marquis spent time observing at OSF Saint Paul, where she also plans to job shadow some doctors. 

Also seeking a medical career is Cheyenne West, daughter of Gary and Nicole West. She will attend Olivet Nazarene University in Bourbonnais to become a registered nurse.

“This university embodies a way of preaching the Christian faith through education and other activities,” West noted. “This specific university also has an excellent nursing program.”

Her desire to help others will include volunteering at animal shelters during her free time and giving blood regularly at various blood drives at the university. This summer she will also participate in her fourth Methodist Church mission trip to Kentucky.

The Mendota BPW will continue to raise money to fund two scholarships for women returning to school to be awarded this fall. Summer fundraisers include a Sullivan’s cookout on June 2 and a Railroad Days Bake Sale in the dining car at the Mendota Railroad Depot on Saturday, June 16.

The BPW motto is “Women helping women.” The group meets monthly from September through May and occasionally in the summer. Anyone wanting more information about BPW may contact club president Jeri Atherton at athertonj64@gmail.com or vice-president Megan Kneebone at meg32il@yahoo.com.