In the wake of her achievements at Mary Baldwin University, Jordan Jones ’13 blazes a trail toward future success and proves scholarships inspire a desire to give back. Jones received the Dorothy Berry Bragonier and Winifred Berry Cassard Scholarship last academic year, sparking a plan to support student scholarships at Mary Baldwin once she establishes her career. Bragonier created the scholarship in celebration of the years she and her sister, Cassard, shared at Mary Baldwin from 1907–10. Although Jones will never have the opportunity to thank the donor in person, she is nonetheless grateful.
“If I were able to meet the founding donor of my scholarship, I would say to her, ‘thank you, from the bottom of my heart.’ I would explain that I know being thankful doesn’t even begin to repay the gifts and opportunities I have been presented, but one day I hope to make her proud as a Boldly Baldwin woman,” said Jones, “I would promise that, just as she has given a gift to me, I will make a difference in the lives of Mary Baldwin students one day by contributing to student scholarships.”
Showing the gumption that has characterized Mary Baldwin women for generations, Jones has spent her college years tirelessly involved in campus and community life. She is triple majoring in Healthcare Administration, sociology/psychology, and business. Over the last two years, Jones has worked fervently to rebuild and reinstate the college’s horseback riding team, a process that has required initiative, enthusiasm, and persistence. In addition to her heavy course load and work with the riding team, she serves as secretary for the Student Alumnae Relations Society, is a member of Alpha Lambda Delta Honor Society, and played on the Mary Baldwin soccer team this year. After graduation, she wants to work as an administrator in a long-term care facility.
As her senior year winds down, Jones is eager to move into the next phase of her life but not without appreciation for her time at Mary Baldwin. “To sum it all up, this scholarship has allowed me to attend a college which I would otherwise not be able to afford. It allows me to receive the benefits of a private college education, gaining the experience, knowledge, and connections that I could not acquire anywhere else,” she said.