Meet the first four Scholarship Winners of Fall 2022
Like so many of our Scholarship Winners, the four young adults you are about to meet are amazing!
Each of them chose to combine their high school requirements with the hands-on professional program skills offered by the New Orleans Career Center for their specific interests. Their keen determination to double down on ensuring their high school graduation while simultaneously earning career credentials provided each with the reward of having a clear vision of their future and the satisfaction of being admitted into a Louisiana college on their chosen professional path.
Antonio Smith
From an early age, Antonio Smith was committed, not only to being the first person in his family to finish college, but to making a positive difference in the world as well. Not surprising then that Antonio put all his eggs into his Sophomore, Junior and Senior years at Morris Jeff High School. In addition to his sophomore courses, Antonio received a Certificate of Completion from Harvard’s online Neuroscience course. During his junior and senior high school years, Antonio spent half his time completing his graduation requirements, and the other half of his days invested in a two-year intensive Nursing Curriculum at the New Orleans Career Center. This past May, Antonio graduated from both Morris Jeff High School and the Career Center’s Nursing Curriculum. He has been accepted into the University of Holy Cross’ Bachelor of Science in Nursing Program, from which he will graduate in 2026. The 431 Exchange is thrilled Antonio Smith, an adult whose clarity and capabilities will make a difference in the road ahead, is one of its first Fall 2022 Scholarship Winners!
Kaila Bradford
Kaila, a 2022 graduate of both the Warren Easton High School and the New Orleans Career Center’s Healthcare Program, propelled herself into Howard University in Washington, DC where she has launched herself right into a four-year biology and Pre-Med program.
Kaila’s inspiration stems from her parents: hardworking and dedicated people. “I’ve spent my entire life watching them do everything they can to provide for my siblings and me, even when times were tough. Watching their struggle,” Kaila said, “encourages me to be the best I can be!”
Now hardworking and dedicated herself, Kaila is demonstrating that her trajectory through high school and her undergraduate program is unlikely to stop at Howard University. She is clearer than ever that her lifelong dream of becoming a surgeon will enable her to help others. Especially those who cannot help themselves. “By becoming a doctor,” Kaila said, “I will be able to ensure that I can help those in need because Healthcare is more often a necessity in this world, than an option.”
We applaud Scholarship Winners like Kaila. In fact, she sums up our purpose beautifully. “The 431 Exchange is helping those who don’t have the ‘luxury’ of getting a degree. The 431 Exchange gives adults a chance to get their degree and make a difference in this world.”
Charnae Anderson
Having graduated in May 2022 from the Edna Karr High School in New Orleans and the New Orleans Career Center’s professional studies, Charnae is heading for Louisiana State University, in Baton Rouge, where she will be studying for her Bachelor’s Degree in Nursing.
What inspires Charnae to make a difference in her life? Her desire to be the first in her family to graduate from college, and the fact that a valuable friend’s life was lost to gun violence. “I’m doing everything he couldn’t do, in his honor,” Charnae said.
So often, we see maturity fueling our Scholarship Winners’ commitment to long-buried dreams. The appeal of Charnae’s choice of college studies is that it will get her where her future career as a neonatal nurse is calling her! “My passion for babies and healthcare will enable me to become a registered nurse, which will also enable me to be certified as a neonatal nurse. Being part of the program also means I will be able to get jobs in the healthcare field, to continue my education there, too.”
Charnae’s thankfulness for the 431 Exchange’s Scholarships is that it supports minorities, including African Americans. “It took us a long time [for African Americans] to be a part of schools and PWI schools. The cycle of blacks giving back to their people, and to keep it going, is very inspirational and motivational to me.”
Naielle Brown
Naielle Brown chose the same accelerated route to college the first three of our Fall 2022 Scholarship Winners did. Not only did she work hard to earn her high school diploma from the International High School of New Orleans in 2022, but she also wove together Criminal Justice System studies, Evidence, English Composition, and Hospitality Management courses at Southern University New Orleans, Delgado Community College, and the New Orleans Career Center, earning technical certificates in each field and bringing more clarity and focus to her plans for the future.
Today, Naielle is registered at Loyola University, in New Orleans, where she is enrolled in a Bachelor's Degree in Criminology and Justice. She admits to the possibility of going on for her Master’s Degree as well. As Naielle puts it, her determination will help, “give us a better life financially. It will make a difference in my life and our family’s.”
Naielle’s professional determination to pursue Criminology and Justice also stem from her keen desire to protect those in her community who don’t have anyone to rely on when they’ve been wronged. “Especially those who don’t have the money needed for an attorney,” she said. “My plan for the highest and best use of my degree is to open my own law firm for those in the lower- and middle-income levels. I want to give back to the community I was raised in and love!”
A compassionate woman, Naielle says receiving a Fall Scholarship from the 431 Exchange, will provide her with much of Loyola’s tuition for her Fall semester, adding, “The 431 Exchange helps those who want to continue their education and accumulate professional credentials.”