For Annie Murray, the College of Charleston’s Colonial Scholarship was more than a financial cushion to ease her journey through college. It led to a job.
Annie Murray ’14
Rather than having to fund her education through loans or a part-time job, Murray says the full four-year scholarship enabled her to concentrate on her studies and to pursue several internships, including some that were unpaid. One of those internships led to a full-time position after Murray graduated in May 2014.
A native of Hanahan, S.C., and a William Aiken Fellow in the Honors College, Murray was one of two inaugural recipients of the Colonial Scholarship in 2010. She was a mathematics major and a data science minor.
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During her junior and senior years, Murray had internships with tech start-up GreenWizard, the South Carolina Department of Insurance and Bartlett Actuarial Group in Charleston. A few weeks after graduating she accepted a position as an actuarial analyst with Bartlett Actuarial Group.
“I was originally able to obtain the internship that led to my job offer thanks to contacts in the math department,” says Murray. “Since I didn’t have to worry about student loans or paying out of pocket for room and board, I was able to have multiple internships that weren’t all paid.”
The other inaugural recipient of the Colonial Scholarship in 2010 was Jessica Dugan, a William Aiken Fellow in the Honors College who graduated in 2014. Dugan is entering a Ph.D program in cognition and development at Emory University this fall.
RELATED: Read about other stellar alumni in the Class of 2014 Profile.
The Colonial Scholarship is the most prestigious scholarship awarded by the College. Recipients are selected from the highest qualified students from South Carolina in each freshman class. Recipients are selected based on academic credentials at the time of admission, prior academic and community service involvement and personal interviews with the scholarship committee.
There are currently five additional Colonial Scholarship recipients enrolled at the College. They will be joined this fall by four entering freshman who are the newest members of this exceptional group of students and alumni.
Steve Osborne, executive vice president for business affairs at the College, says the College did not offer any full four-year academic scholarships prior to the establishment of the Colonial Scholarship in 2010.
“The quality of students from South Carolina that we have been able to attract to the College of Charleston with these scholarships has exceeded our expectations,” Osborne says. “Our Colonial Scholars are our best and brightest students, and the fact that they chose the College for their education speaks volumes about the academic experience we provide.”
Murray, who plans to continue working in the insurance field and hopes to eventually become a fellow of the Casualty Actuarial Society, says the Colonial Scholarship made all the difference in her college experience and all that has followed professionally.
