Cole Dickerson
Cole Dickerson wants to become a doctor or surgeon because he’s passionate about keeping people happy and healthy. He chose East Carolina University because he saw the impact of faculty on students in the ECU Honors College.
“During Selection Sunday, it was apparent that students are not just a number in the Honors College,” he said. “The faculty really seemed to know each EC Scholar, how to challenge them and how to prepare them to be successful in their chosen careers.”
The EC Scholars program is ECU’s most prestigious undergraduate scholarship award. The four-year merit scholarship recognizes outstanding academic performance, commitment to community engagement and strong leadership skills. Recipients receive an Honors College scholarship for four years, along with a stipend for study abroad, for a total value of nearly $63,000.
“Being an EC Scholar means that I earned a spot in a family consisting of 19 other freshmen who are just as passionate and ready to make a tangible difference in each of their respective fields as I am,” Dickerson said.
Dickerson, an Eagle Scout who received academic all-conference awards in each of his four years of high school soccer, has already left his mark on his high school, where he founded the BEST (Biomedical Engineering, Science and Technology) Club and wrote a grant to start a robotics program.
He’s a member of the Order of the Arrow and the national honor society of the Boy Scouts of America, as well as the president of his district for Health Occupation Students of America (HOSA).
He’ll be busy this summer, with plans to travel to Argentina, as well as to HOSA’s International Leadership Conference in Orlando, Florida. When it’s time to study abroad as an EC Scholar, he’d like to visit Australia.
“Apart from my affinity for beaches, kangaroos, and platypuses, Australia is a place I have always dreamed of going, and the EC Scholars program has offered me the opportunity to fully immerse myself in Australian culture,” he said.
On campus, Dickerson said he has been impressed by the focus on research and wants to be a part of it.
“I’m really excited to be able to reach out to faculty members and join diverse teams of people who solve real-world problems pertaining to science and medicine,” he said.
Dickerson is the son of Dr. Daniel and Laura Dickerson of Gatesville.
“I’m extremely excited to spend the next four years learning, collaborating and working as an EC Scholar,” Dickerson said. “I’m also very grateful to my parents, teachers, mentors and everyone else who helped me to make my selection as an EC Scholar possible.”
“I’m really excited to be able to reach out to faculty members and join diverse teams of people who solve real-world problems pertaining to science and medicine.”
High school: Gates County High School
Intended major: Public health studies/MBA
Hometown: Gatesville