Three 2016 graduates credit scholarships for keeping their dreams alive
Manel Atie
Martha Gudelsky Memorial Endowed Scholarship
Hospitality Management
With almost a dozen campus leadership roles and academic honors, from President’s Society to UNICEF to the Knights of the Roundtable, Manel Atie has made her mark at Lynn.
But it was the generosity of the Martha Gudelsky Memorial Endowed Scholarship that made its mark on her.
“Generous donors and my parents gave me the opportunity to become a Lynn student,” she said. “I’m so grateful for that.”
Chef Craig Schmantowsky said Atie is creative, opinionated and easy to get along with.
A native of the Dominican Republic, Atie plans to use her hospitality management degree to make a difference in her home country. “The Dominican Republic has so much to share with the rest of the world.”
August Berger
Ruth Nelson Kraft Foundation Scholarship,
Conservatory of Music Scholarship
Music performance
Without scholarships, August Berger might have had to scale back his dream of being a professional musician.
“In order to ‘make it,’ you have to put in hours of consistent and focused practice,” he said. “That can be difficult if you are also juggling two or three part-time jobs just to stay in school.”
Uninterrupted, rigorous hours to concentrate on music have kept the Plainview, New York, native marching in the direction of his dream. Next: the conservatory’s Professional Performance Certificate program.
Robert Mascioli
Levitetz Family Foundation Scholarship
Sports management
Pop by the fitness center and it is easy to see Robert Mascioli’s love of sports. A student worker there since his sophomore year, Mascioli checks patrons in at the front desk and instructs them in the proper use of equipment. He is also involved in intramural flag football and basketball: stats keeper and equipment keeper.
“I was a bit tough on him when he was my intern his junior year,” said Jennah Ackerman, campus recreation manager. “I saw Robbie come out of his shell, though. He puts 100 percent into everything he does. He will make an amazing employee in the sports and rec field."
A native of Amawalk, New York, Mascioli is grateful for the opportunity to pursue his dreams in the sports industry, and even more grateful that his scholarship lightened the financial load on his family.
