Monday, November 22, 2010

Bemley Scholar Caroline Tremain Heads to University of Minnesota

BDPA Education and Technology Foundation (BETF) has given out over $318,000 in scholarships to more than 150 students since 1999. One of those talented scholarship students is Caroline Tremain. She was a member of the 2006 high school computer competition (HSCC) team trained by BDPA Southern Minnesota chapter. Her team took home the silver medal in the 2006 national HSCC championships held in Los Angeles CA. As a result, Carly earned a Jesse Bemley Scholarship.

Carly decided to use her Bemley Scholarship to help defray the costs of attending the University of Minnesota (Twin Cities). She shares her thoughts on the decision with us:

My name is Caroline Tremain. I graduated Mayo High School in Rochester, MN and anxiously await the start of my college studies at the University of Minnesota in the Twin Cities where I will pursue an area of business at the Carlson School of Management.

As I was going through high school I had different aspirations for my future. I first thought I wanted to become a lawyer. I was an active member on the debate team and believed that it would be an interesting career that I would be good at. In my senior year I did a mentorship with a local judge. I sat in his courtroom every Tuesday morning for three hours. After listening to many cases and watching the same people appear again and again for committing the same crime, I decided I did not want to be a lawyer, at least not a public defender. I like a sense of completion with my work and to me it seemed like lawyers never really complete their jobs, unless the case ends. They only chip away at parts of a case for months or even years. That would drive me crazy.

I once thought that I wanted to be an obstetrician. A close family friend of mine is an obstetrician and always talks about the beautiful baby girls and boys that she helps bring into the world everyday. However after I saw the birthing video in my sophomore year health class I quickly decided that I needed to find another profession. The health industry as a doctor or nurse was not for me. Blood and fluids need to remain inside the body for my job.

In addition to my mentorship senior year I was also the student director for the school musical. That fall we put on the show Annie. I realized that I have natural leadership skills and I can work proficiently at getting major tasks done with a group of people. I really enjoyed this because it kept me involved and in control of most of the aspects of the play. I am not sure what job I will end up doing but I concluded that a business degree could get me a job that I would enjoy and thrive at.

I started looking at schools that had good business programs that were close to home. I wanted to get out of Rochester but I didn’t want to go to far away. I found the University of Minnesota and St. Thomas University. After being accepted into both schools I had to make the decision between a small or a large school. I visited both and felt more comfortable at the University of Minnesota.

I am currently undecided on my major but I think it might lean towards marketing. My dad was a marketing manager for twenty-seven years and I think some of his job skills rubbed off on me a little. I understand it pretty well, but I know that there is still so much more to learn. I am very excited to start this fall and begin my future.


I hope that you will take a moment to use the POST A COMMENT option to share some BDPA-Love with Caroline! It is important that BDPA continue to support our HSCC alumni in the years after they participate in the national HSCC championships.

Good luck in your future Carly!

No comments: