In anticipation of surpassing its goal of 10,000 students, Odessa College announced Friday that $10,000 will be given to a lucky student at the end of this month.
This is being offered in partnership with The Sewell Family of Companies.
In the Saulsbury Campus Center Amphitheater, OC President Gregory Williams said any student who is registered for a course at OC, who has paid and is fully registered is eligible for the prize.
The third-place winner will receive a $1,000 scholarship and the second-place winner will receive a $2,000 scholarship from OC.
As part of the occasion, on Oct. 24, Odessa College will select 10 finalists from a pool of over 10,000 students. These finalists will be invited to attend a grand finale event on Oct. 29, where one winner will be awarded the $10,000 prize.
Alissa Cornelius, vice president for advancement at OC, said when the college was approaching 10,000 students, they shared the story with some of their partners and friends.
On Oct. 3, The Sewell Family of Companies decided to give $10,000 to OC to give back to students.
“Educational support is one of their core philanthropic missions and we’re so excited, honored and blessed to be a part of that mission today,” Cornelius said.
Williams said Friday they have reached 9,900 students.
“We need about another 100 students to reach that mark, so we encourage people who have thought about it, who are on the fence to go ahead and jump in, become a part of this history, but all of those students in the credit environment are eligible for the drawing,” he added.
It doesn’t matter if you take in-person or online classes.
“If you joined us in that effort, if you’re a part of that 10,000, you get to compete for that 10,000,” Williams said. “… If you’re one of our credit students, you have a shot at winning $10,000.”
Vice President of Academic Partnerships Jason Meldrum said they will announce the finalists on Oct. 24 and on the evening of Oct. 29, they will draw three names from the final 10 and award scholarships and the cash prize.
“We’re going to surpass 10,000 students. We’re pretty confident of that. … Last year, we had a big celebration right out here, and we were celebrating 8,800 students in a fall semester. That was our 11th consecutive record-breaking fall semester. Now we’ve jumped right over 9,000 students, and we’re looking square in the face of 10,000 students,” Meldrum said.
Williams said the community has come together to be better educationally.
“In the past, we didn’t have to be as good educationally, because we could lean on oil and gas more, and we could all do really well for the most part. But now, as technologies are improving, becoming more and more demanding, education is becoming a more important resource. As we’re attracting more and more businesses into the Permian Basin to do things additional to oil and gas, we need a highly qualified, highly educated workforce. We partner with ECISD, UT Permian Basin, and we’re doing it together. We want to make sure Odessa College does its part,” Williams said.
Isabelle Badger, from the West Midlands area of England, said the announcement was thrilling.
“It’s fantastic to potentially receive 10 grand. … It’s life-changing for anyone really. And considering I’m international, it’s going to help my family so much, because then I’ll be able to come home for Christmas and do the things that I can do with my family that I might not have done without (it),” Badger said.
