Mississippi Student Pursuing Dream Career With Help of USA Funds Scholarship

Memories of the assistance she received in overcoming a childhood speech impediment led Mallory Dickard to dream of her own career in speech pathology. A $1,500 scholarship from USA Funds^® is helping her receive the education she needs to pursue that dream.

Dickard, a sophomore majoring in speech pathology at Mississippi State University, received the scholarship through Mississippi Next magazine. USA Funds provided the scholarship as part of its sponsorship of the publication to deliver college planning guidance and advice to Mississippi high school students.

Speech pathologists assisted Dickard as she struggled with her speech impediment in elementary school. Because that help made such a profound impact on her life, she says, she wants to give back to others who are facing the same difficult situation.

Dickard says USA Funds’ sponsorship of Mississippi Next has helped her along that path in two ways.

“I’m ecstatic to get the scholarship, which has helped me in so many ways in paying for college,” Dickard says. “And the magazine itself helped me a lot too. It provided really great information about careers.”

When she was a senior at Pillow Academy in her native Greenwood, Miss., the editors of Mississippi Next selected Dickard for the scholarship among hundreds of students who submitted reply cards to the magazine. The award is targeted to a graduating Mississippi high school senior to pay educational expenses at a postsecondary institution in the state.

USA Funds serves as the designated guarantor of federal education loans for Mississippi.

Dickard says her choice of speech pathology as a career also suits her penchant for helping others, which is reflected in her participation in a variety of volunteer activities. Currently, she volunteers as an after-school tutor in Starkville, Miss., for two hours a day, four days a week.

After receiving her bachelor’s degree, she plans to pursue a master’s degree and hopes to remain in Mississippi or a surrounding state when she becomes a speech pathologist.