Dental Hygiene student named CEW+ Scholar3 min read
Ann Arbor, Mich., Sept. 23, 2019 – A dental hygiene student at the School of Dentistry has been named a CEW+ Scholar as part of the organization’s 2019-20 cohort of scholarship recipients.
Lucero Castillo, in her second year of the three-year bachelor of science degree program in dental hygiene, was named a Jane and Bill Bloom Scholar. She is one of 72 students from U-M’s three campuses in Ann Arbor, Flint and Dearborn who received scholarships this year from CEW+, formerly the Center for the Education of Women.
CEW+ said scholarship winners include student parents and primary caregivers, students who are returning to the classroom after a prolonged interruption, students who are underrepresented in STEM fields (Science, Technology, Engineering, Math), first-generation and international students, and students who have overcome great obstacles in order to achieve their dream of earning a degree in higher education.
Castillo was born in California and grew up in Guatemala, where she was a competitive swimmer for 10 years ending in high school. She moved to Michigan in 2014 to live with her sister in Midland and pursue better educational and job opportunities than were possible in Guatemala. She worked at learning English and met with numerous career counselors to explore her interest in medical fields, eventually deciding that dental hygiene was a good fit. She attended Delta College near Bay City and Washtenaw Community College in Ann Arbor to fulfill the U-M prerequisites. After many years of struggling financially, before and after she came to this country, she said she is grateful that the CEW+ grant will help her complete her dental hygiene degree. The scholarship is all the more important with the birth of her son, Santos, four months ago, she said. She hopes to practice dental hygiene clinically when she graduates in 2021.
The extensive scholarship program administered by CEW+ awarded more than $485,000 this year. Scholarships for undergraduate and master’s students ranged from $1,000 to $11,500, with an average of $6,700, while some doctoral students receive larger grants.
The 2019-20 CEW+ Scholars were honored at an awards ceremony in Ann Arbor on Sunday. CEW was founded at U-M in 1964 and the scholarship program was established in 1970 as part of the center’s early efforts to support women returning to school; today the program serves nontraditional students of all genders, providing financial support and recognition for students whose voices and experiences are unique in comparison to their peers. Funding for its scholarships and fellowships comes from individuals, organizations, clubs and foundations. More information about CEW+ is available on its website.
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The University of Michigan School of Dentistry is one of the nation’s leading dental schools engaged in oral health care education, research, patient care and community service. General dental care clinics and specialty clinics providing advanced treatment enable the school to offer dental services and programs to patients throughout Michigan. Classroom and clinic instruction prepare future dentists, dental specialists and dental hygienists for practice in private offices, hospitals, academia and public agencies. Research seeks to discover and apply new knowledge that can help patients worldwide. For more information about the School of Dentistry, visit us on the Web at: www.dent.umich.edu. Contact: Lynn Monson, associate director of communications, at dentistry.communications@umich.edu, or (734) 615-1971.