Bianca

Photo caption: Bianca Kersellius

Bianca Kersellius is a senior studying communications at Pennsylvania State University, Harrisburg. She received a scholarship from the Southwest Neighborhood Association this past summer. Kersellius said about her scholarship, “this scholarship has helped me with my finances as I try to finish my last year of college strong. I am grateful that I had the opportunity to be rewarded with such an award and I would like to thank the board of directors who made this scholarship program possible.”

After graduating this upcoming spring, Kersellius plans to return to DC with the hopes of working at an event planning company. Kersellius is known for her happy-go-lucky spirit and has always been known to go after what she wants in life. In her free time, she enjoys writing, planning events, and spending time with her family and friends. Last summer Kersellius did volunteer work that allowed her to hone her skills in event planning and writing.

When Tsahai Pettiford (also a 2015 SWNA scholarship recipient), a friend, told Kersellius about the SWNA program, she contacted Vyllorya Evans, co-chair of the Education and Scholarship Task Force, to apply. At their meeting, Evans was impressed and recruited Kersellius to assist her with the 2015 scholarship awards program. Kersellius helped plan the awards program, gathered information for scholarship recipients’ bios, and wrote an article for The Southwester about a former SWNA scholarship recipient. Kersellius turned things around so fast that Evans moved to other items on the task force’s to-do list. One of those items was to create a brochure that SWNA could use for fundraising and recruiting students to apply for scholarships. Ever the go-getter, Kersellius conducted research and laid out the soon-to-be-released brochure that SWNA has needed for years. The brochure will be a valuable tool for fundraising and recruiting for years to come. Kersellius also interned with Athgo International at the World Bank, where she interviewed discussion forum panelists, CEOs of internal corporations, and other special guests at Athgo’s annual “Global Innovation Forum.”

Kersellius has lived in Southwest since she was two years old. She attended Amidon-Bowen Elementary School from kindergarten through the sixth grade. After graduating from Amidon, she attended Friendship Public Charter School’s Blow Pierce campus for seventh and eighth grade. Throughout her public school years, Kersellius was very active in sports (volleyball and softball) and other extracurricular activities. After graduating from Blow Pierce with honors in 2008, Kersellius started high school at Benjamin Banneker Academic High School. She continued to play volleyball and softball and was also active in the student government association, and other clubs and organizations. Kersellius graduated from Banneker in 2012.

The Southwest community salutes Kersellius for her contribution to the Southwest Neighborhood Assembly Scholarship Fund brochure. We look forward to her spring graduation and following her future endeavors.

For more information about the SWNA Scholarship Fund go to www.swdc.org/swna/task-forces/education-scholarship/.

By: Vyllorya Evans

With contributions by Bianca Kersellius.

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