Scholars Around the World
Two JKCF Scholars organize a 15-day study tour to Bolivia to explore the country’s political economy, peoples and rural development
Cindy Blount
"I know I looked and felt like a kindergartner on the first day of school. It only took one day to realize that this place was where I wanted to be. It was at Blue Ridge Community College where I found my second passion in life --- a quest for knowledge."
- Alumni of: 2006 Undergraduate Transfer Scholarship Program
- Resides: Hendersonville, NC
- Hometown: Concord, NC
- Age: 41
- Community College: Blue Ridge Community College
- Four-year College or University: University of Phoenix
- Academic/Career Pursuits: Arts / Music / Performance, Business, Computing / IT, Design, Entrepreneur / Independent Business, Liberal Arts, Nonprofits, Politics and Diplomacy
- Other Interests: Church / Religious Organization, Computing / IT, Design, Greek Organization (Fraternity / Sorority), Honor Society, Nonprofits, Student Government, Tutoring / Mentoring, Visual Arts, Volunteer Work
Biography
Cindy Blount said she loved school as a child but her home life was chaotic and she bounced between foster care, older siblings and her grandmother. She married at a young age and had a child. After she and her husband divorced, she set a goal of returning to school.
It took time but she has been successful. She completed high school but did not have the money or time for college. She remarried when her daughter was nine and when she had her second daughter, put education on hold for another five years.
She relished "having a close and loving family" that was so unlike her own upbringing. College beckoned, however. "When my youngest daughter started school, so did I."
She flourished. Professors praised her critical-thinking abilities and her focus. She is the first in her family to attend college - and also the first entrepreneur, designing websites for nonprofits. Her college web-design team won national and international recognition. She finds time for playing music and reading to children in the local library. Today, she credits "a wonderful support system" of family, friends and instructors who helped her overcome her fears and "become the confident and successful person I am today."
Other Scholars Like Cindy
Maria Frendberg
College Scholar
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Kelly Sortino
Graduate Scholar
Stanford University
Greg Anderson
Graduate Scholar
Yale University
Lisandra Rickards
Graduate Scholar
Harvard University