(Butler, PA) One day, Mya Slomers said, she wants to comfort surgical patients before they receive anesthesia and one day, Bailey Bevington said, she wants to counsel children as they discuss having been abused.
Today, Slomers and Bevington are Butler County Community College students selected to receive $1,000 scholarships that acknowledge their leadership potential.
Because they achieved a grade-point average of at least 3.5 at BC3 in the fall 2022 semester, Slomers and Bevington were eligible in the spring 2023 semester to become members of Phi Theta Kappa.
Phi Theta Kappa is an international academic honor society for two-year-colleges and programs.
The Coca-Cola Leaders of Promise scholarships that Slomers and Bevington received are awarded to select Phi Theta Kappa members based on outstanding academic achievement and demonstrated leadership potential.
Scholarship process “competitive,” BC3 dean says
Approximately 19 percent of the nearly 1,100 Phi Theta Kappa members nationwide who completed Coca-Cola Leaders of Promise scholarship applications that required listing their accomplishments and stating their goals were picked by judges currently unaffiliated with Phi Theta Kappa or Coca-Cola.
“To be selected is really a huge, huge honor,” said Dr. Josh Novak, BC3’s dean of students and primary adviser of Rho Phi, the college’s 55-year-old chapter of Phi Theta Kappa. “It’s a competitive process.”
Slomers, of Butler, and Bevington, of Worthington, are among the 213 Phi Theta Kappa members chosen in 2023 to receive the scholarship, and the fifth and sixth BC3 students selected since 2012, according to Caroline Moreno, Phi Theta Kappa communications coordinator.
Slomers and Bevington are 19 and former members of the National Honor Society, Slomers at Butler Senior High and Bevington at Armstrong Junior-Senior High.
“Talking people through hard situations”
Slomers at Butler High served as a student ambassador and realized “I was a people person,” she said.
“I always enjoyed being there for people, especially if they are in a vulnerable state. I’ve always been really good at talking people through hard situations.”
The second-year Nursing, R.N., student on BC3’s main campus plans to attend medical school to become a nurse anesthetist.
“I’d like to be one of those last people who someone sees before they go into surgery,” Slomers said. “I like to be a friendly face. Sometimes people get really nervous. I’ve gone under for a couple of surgeries before and the nurses that I had were just so sweet. I feel it’s really important, especially if someone doesn’t have a family member to be there with them.”
“I’d like to be one of those last people who someone sees before they go into surgery. I like to be a friendly face. ... I feel it’s really important, especially if someone doesn’t have a family member to be there with them.”
Slomers and Bevington have each been named to BC3’s president’s list, a recognition for students who achieve a grade-point average of at least 3.75 or higher.
Slomers provided refreshments to hospitalized patients as a volunteer at Butler Memorial Hospital, packed school supplies for underprivileged children through BatchPacks for Kids and assisted military veterans on a trip to the Flight 93 National Memorial in Shanksville. She has also worked as a greeter at Butler Memorial Hospital.
“I want to make a difference”
Bevington, a second-year psychology student at BC3 @ Armstrong, plans to become an adolescent therapist because “I have seen a lot of children who suffer, who come from bad homes, and I just want to be able to help those kids,” she said. “I want to bring some light to their life. That is why I chose to pursue this career.”
Bevington has volunteered with Armstrong Community Theater and has worked at Lifesteps in Butler “helping people with special needs,” she said. “That made me feel confident that I was choosing a rewarding career. There is a stigma around mental health still. There are people who need help. And I want to make a difference.
Career pursuits of helping patients about to undergo surgery or counseling children who have been abused “are obviously very noble aspirations,” Novak said. “To dedicate your career to giving back in those particular ways speaks to the nature of students who represent BC3.
“Not only are they excelling in the classroom, and in their community, and with service and engagement on campus, but they have also given some tremendous thought to what they want to do with their life and how that can impact others.”
"There is a stigma around mental health still. There are people who need help. And I want to make a difference."
Slomers and Bevington plan to graduate debt-free from BC3 in May. Slomers has also received the Glenn Miller ’81 BC3 Alumni Legacy and the Caitlyn Kaufman ’18 Legacy Nursing scholarships from the BC3 Education Foundation.
Slomers intends to transfer to Slippery Rock University of Pennsylvania and Bevington, to Indiana University of Pennsylvania following their graduation from BC3.
BC3 students from 14 counties Rho Phi members
Other BC3 students who received Coca-Cola Leaders of Promise scholarships were Ashley Hevesy in 2012, Tiffany Root in 2013, and Ian Moore and Megan Denny in 2021, according to Moreno.
Ashley Hevesy, 2012
Hevesy achieved an associate degree in Nursing, R.N., from BC3 in 2014.
The Butler resident earned a bachelor’s degree in nursing from Slippery Rock University in 2016. She graduated in 2020 from Carlow University with a master’s degree in nursing leadership and education, and with a master’s degree in administration in health care management.
She served as a clinical instructor with BC3’s Nursing, R.N., program and oversees a clinic at the VA Butler Healthcare System.
Tiffany Root, 2013
Root achieved an associate degree in photography from BC3 in 2013.
The Harmony resident has been the manager of a retail business in McCandless Township for 10 years, and owns Tiffany Root Photography, Harmony.
Ian Moore, 2021
Moore achieved an associate degree in business administration from BC3 in 2021.
The Butler resident is pursuing bachelor’s degrees in finance, and in health care administration with a financial management focus, at Slippery Rock University, and a minor in accounting.
He works as an accountant and accounting project manager at a firm in Valencia.
Megan Denny, 2021
Denny achieved an associate degree in business administration from BC3 in 2022.
The Butler resident is pursuing a second associate degree, in dental hygiene, from the University of Pittsburgh.
“To dedicate your career to giving back in those particular ways speaks to the nature of students who represent BC3."
Students who have completed at least 12 credit hours toward an associate degree or six credit hours toward a one-year certificate and who meet academic requirements are eligible for membership in Rho Phi this fall.
BC3’s chapter of Phi Theta Kappa as of Sept. 30 had 143 members from 14 western Pennsylvania counties and is represented at BC3 @ Brockway, BC3 @ Cranberry, BC3 @ Lawrence Crossing and BC3 @ LindenPointe in addition to the college’s main campus and BC3 @ Armstrong.
