Nursing student Elise Jacobs has received the Mary C. Thompson Scholarship Award through the Cleveland Council of Black Nurses with additional funds from University Hospitals. The funding will cover tuition for her final semester in the Lakeland Community College Nursing-RN program. The Summit County resident from Stow is on track to graduate December 2020.

Jacobs is a member of the Alpha Delta Nu Nursing Honor Society at Lakeland. She plans to start her nursing career in community health at MetroHealth or with the Veterans Affairs Northeast Ohio Healthcare System.

"This is very noteworthy for a fourth-semester student," said Dr. Connie Bowler, nursing program director at Lakeland. "We are extremely proud of her hard work and dedication to the program."
Jacobs' interest to pursue a nursing specialty in public health began at a young age.

"My mother is an Army nurse corps veteran. She has been such a tremendous role model. Since I was a child, I have watched firsthand what strength and determination looks like in the field of nursing," said Jacobs. "This has shaped me into the individual I am today and the nurse I plan to become in the near future. I am so thrilled about becoming a nurse and working with the underserved population and I am so thankful to receive this incredible honor."

Jacobs will pursue her Bachelor of Science degree at the Ursuline College Breen School of Nursing, following in the footsteps of her mother Lesley Lavalais-Jacobs and sister Nina Jacobs who are also Ursuline alumnae."

By: Jessica Novak