RADFORD – Radford University counselor education graduate student Whitney Carper Blaszak of Blacksburg was selected by the American Counseling Association to be one of 10 master’s level recipients of the 2008 Ross Trust Scholarships. Each year the ACA names 10 master’s and five doctoral level recipients of the $1,000 awards.

RU counselor education professor and department chair Alan Forrest expressed the department’s delight in Blaszak’s award. "Whitney is a person who embodies the characteristics of what it means to be a professional counselor,” he said. “She is compassionate, competent, and possesses integrity. Whitney has generously given her time and talents to make contributions to Radford University and to the lives of children whom she touches on a daily basis as a school counseling intern. I admire her enthusiasm and energy. Whitney is an engaging individual with a warm heart and an extremely bright future."

Blaszak, who will graduate in May, said the award “was a true blessing.”  She continued, “My goal of becoming a school counselor is one that I have been well prepared for through the counselor education program at Radford University. I am looking forward to applying what I have learned to my daily encounters with children and adolescents. I have thoroughly enjoyed every minute of the counselor education program.”

According to the ACA, the Ross Trust was set up, through the generosity of Roland and Dorothy Ross, to provide scholarships to students preparing for counseling roles in the nation's elementary, middle and secondary schools. Roland Ross was an active member of ACA for many years.