LaTonya Wimberly
LaTonya Wimberly of Waynesboro, Georgia, is the recipient of the 2021 Learning Partner Scholarship. A human resource director for the city of Waynesboro, Wimberly says this scholarship will help her achieve a bachelor’s degree in a career where she is already employed.
“While I wasn’t really trained in human resources, my city manager trained and encouraged me along the way. The more training I received, the more I began to love human resources,” said Wimberly. “What I loved best about the position was helping and assisting employees.”
Wimberly will be pursing her bachelor’s degree at CSU in human resource management in order to continue growing in her field of work. Through her academic journey, one of her goals is to set an example for her employees.
“Because of my past challenges, I’m able to motivate them to not give up and encourage them to be a better version of themselves,” she said. “Overall, my employees have helped prepare me with choosing human resource management as my degree of choice. I realize that because of my previous life experiences, they also have helped me bring out a better version of myself!”
Benjamin Cully
Benjamin Cully of Van Wert, Ohio, is this year’s recipient of the 2021 Robert G. Mayes Memorial Scholarship. As a National Guard emergency manager and volunteer firefighter, Cully is striving to give back in hopes to unite his community.
“To me, giving back starts at a simple flash of the fire engine lights or horn honk to a small kid just in awe of that truck,” he said. “We have to show the world acts of care and compassion to strangers who may never pay us back so we can come together as Americans.”
Cully is looking to pursue a master’s degree in emergency services management to finish his military career as an educated emergency manager. He hopes to learn from previous relationships to become a liaison between domestic military operations and state agencies.
“When the time comes to turn in the fire gear, I would also like to pursue teaching. We have several vocational programs working with high school students as well as programs for adults,” said Cully. “I feel it circles back to people in my life of work who never totally stopped giving back. Maybe we get old and our bodies are tired of boots, or hoses or uniforms, but our minds still want to be in the action!”
To learn more about CSU’s scholarship opportunities, visit ColumbiaSouthern.edu/Scholarships.
Disclaimer: These testimonials may not reflect the experience of all CSU students.
Multiple factors, including prior experience, geography, and degree field, affect career outcomes.
CSU does not guarantee a job, promotion, salary increase, eligibility for a position, or other career growth.
