Rebekah Arensman
As Bekah Arensman prepares to travel east to begin her first year of college as an EC Scholar, she has some other big firsts ahead of her.
Her first trip to East Carolina University’s campus as part of her interview for the EC Scholars program sold her on being a Pirate. Arensman had concerns about transitioning from her small Christian school, Covenant Classical in Concord, to a university with an enrollment that hovers near 30,000, but was reassured by the sense of a tightly knit community within the EC Scholars program. The campus’s beautiful scenery and that sense of community paired with a highly ranked nursing school persuaded Arensman that ECU was the right choice.
EC Scholars is the most prestigious undergraduate award program offered at ECU. The four-year merit scholarship recognizes outstanding academic performance, commitment to community engagement and strong leadership skills. Recipients receive an Honors College scholarship and a stipend for study abroad for a total value of nearly $64,000.
“Everything that ECU offered me was basically exactly what I was looking for with the small community of EC Scholars but also their nursing program and the campus,” Arensman said. “Everything just kind of fell into place. I go to a small school now, so I’m not used to giant — anything, really. I was kind of worried about not having a smaller group, and ECU offered everything I wanted and more.”
Arensman enters ECU having graduated from high school with a 4.952 weighted GPA. Bekah, daughter of Scott and Sarah Arensman, intends to pursue a nursing degree after an inspirational experience shadowing a nurse anesthetist.
“I was standing in the ER watching the operation and I just loved it so much, and I thought ‘I want to be in this environment, and I love the people and I barely know them.’ That just sparked my interest even more and I’ve pursued it from there,” Arensman said.
“Right now I’m interested in being a nurse anesthetist, but nursing’s nice in that you can move around to other areas if you want to.”
A history enthusiast, Arensman hopes to use her opportunity to study abroad either studying ancient civilizations in Europe, or participating in one of the College of Nursing’s study abroad programs.
As she pursues her bachelor’s degree, Arensman said she’s looking forward to participating in intramural volleyball, getting involved with student government and seeing her first football game in person.
“I’ve never even been to a high school football game. So I don’t really know what football games are like, so I’m really excited for that,” she said, adding that Covenant Classical School does not have a football program.
This summer, her hours will ramp up at Chick-fil-A, where she works as a team leader. She’s also hoping to spend time with family and volunteer at a soup kitchen before starting at ECU in the fall.
“I’ve met some of the scholars already and everyone’s so nice,” she said. “I’m just so excited to start these next steps.”
“I was standing in the ER watching the operation and I just loved it so much, and I thought, ‘I want to be in this environment.’”
High school: Covenant Classical School
Intended major: Nursing
Hometown: Concord