- by Kaitlin Lowe
At Turn Services, our team is one big family, as we recognize our success is not possible without the work of our team members. Part of supporting our team includes supporting their families as well. One effort we are particularly proud of is our annual One Good Turn Scholarship. This scholarship is a $2,000 college scholarship awarded by merit to dependents of our team members.
Throughout the past four years, we have repeatedly awarded the One Good Turn Scholarship to a particularly outstanding student. We are happy to have supported MicKyren Bentley, son of our team member Albert Bentley and his wife Mickerria, throughout his college career.
MicKyren graduated from high school a year early and attended University of Arkansas Pine Bluff the following year. He graduated from UAPB Cum Laude with a Bachelor of Science in Biology and plans to attend medical school in the near future.
“I feel honored and blessed to have been a recipient of the One Good Turn Scholarship. The One Good Turn Scholarship truly assisted my parents and I with my tuition at the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff,” says MicKyren.
MicKyren had been a stellar member of the baseball team at UAPB as well, mastering a rigorous college schedule with long days of practicing with his team. Not only had MicKyren made Chancellor’s and Dean’s list several times, but he also received an award in Biology and was nominated to UAPB’s National Honor Society of Leadership and Success. MicKyren also received UAPB’s Student-Athlete Academic Achievement Award, the Simmons Bank Featured Scholar of the Game Award, the Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC) Commissioner’s Academic Honor Roll and Featured UAPB Baseball Athlete in which he was featured for two games and received several honorable mentions. In addition to these recognitions, he was featured in an article written in USA Today Sports titled: Arkansas v. UAPB.
Evidently, Mickyren has proved himself a phenomenal student athlete throughout his collegiate years. His dream postgraduate is to become an Anesthesiologist. During his junior year of college, he took his first step towards achieving this dream as he became a pharmacy technician at Walgreens in White Hall, Arkansas.
While Mickyren is a stellar student and athlete, his heart shines the brightest. He uses his passion for baseball to give back to the community. He hosted a FREE baseball and softball camp in Plaquemines Parish where he offered baseball instruction and personalized items including t-shirts, water bottles, batting gloves, cleats, and school supplies. While teaching this kids’ camp, Mickyren makes it a point to stress the importance of getting an education and maintaining good grades. As the event was a success, he says he would love to make this camp an annual event.
Mickyren gives back in his college community too, as he and his UAPB teammates volunteer for many events assisting children. One event is the Simmons Bank challenger games—which is a baseball event created to feature special needs youth. The team worked to teach baseball techniques and played with kids for this event.
Mickyren also volunteers as a tutor for other students at UAPB. Similarly, he volunteers at the high school he graduated from, Salmen High School. At Salmen, he assists with baseball training and coaching. In addition, he gives out free baseball lessons and words of encouragement in the Slidell area. While Mickyren’s plans include medical school, he played in the South Florida Collegiate Baseball league this summer, located in West Palm Beach, Florida.
MicKyren leads with his heart and stays focused on following his dreams which is what the One Good Turn Scholarship is all about. “I feel truly blessed to have been selected as a recipient. I would like to thank the One Good Turn Scholarship Department for investing in my educational endeavors. Your generosity is appreciated more than you will ever know,” says MicKyren. We are so proud to support the education of bright young minds like MicKyren’s and future One Good Turn Scholarship receivers.
MicKyren’s final advice to “all current and future scholarship participants is to follow their dreams. Believe in yourselves. Set goals and do not stop until you obtain them. The sky is the limit. Keep striving for excellence.”
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