By Anne Walker | Staff Writer, Video by April Oddo | Broadcast Reporter
Last Thursday, Baylor First Gentleman Brad Livingstone announced the prize winners of last semester’s COVID-19 testing incentive program on Facebook. The prize recipients included Houston senior Cameron Campbell-Bryant, who was awarded with a $5000 scholarship.
The biology major revealed that the scholarship came to him at an opportune moment. Prior to receiving the unexpected scholarship, he found himself praying for a way to cover his upcoming tuition bill.
“I could not believe I had won because I was thinking about how I was going to afford the upcoming semester,” Campbell-Bryant said. “It could not have been more clear that God had delivered to me and answered my prayers in that very moment.”
Campbell-Bryant said that he always hoped to attend Baylor; however, his financial background as the child of a single, disabled mother posed significant obstacles to this goal. He found a way to finance his dream of a Baylor education by fulfilling general education requirements at Lone Star College-CyFair, where he served as the president of the Honors College. After studying for two years at the community college, Campbell-Bryant earned transfer academic scholarships to attend Baylor.
Even with academic merit aid, Campbell-Bryant said his finances were still tight.
“I still wasn’t sure how I would be able to afford [Baylor] . . . but every time I wasn’t sure how I was going to make it a new blessing came into my life,” Campbell-Bryant said. “I met people that were able to help me. They gave me inspiration and hope, and then Baylor blessed me with this scholarship.”
Along with his studies and job as a Stihl technician at a local Ace Hardware, Campbell-Bryant serves as the vice president of the Baylor Medical Student Association. He cited his experiences interviewing doctors in this position as a highlight of his Baylor experience.
“I take a lot of pride in the work that I do with [Baylor Medical Association] . . . As vice president, it’s my job to go find guest medical speakers and have them present to our members,” Campbell-Bryant said. “That’s been one of my favorite experiences here, getting to meet all the doctors, meeting with the local community and just furthering my career in medicine.”
Campbell-Bryant is currently applying to medical schools, pursuing his aspirations to work as an orthopedic surgeon. He cites the current COVID-19 pandemic as one of factors that influenced his intentions to enter the medical field.
“[The pandemic] only motivated me further to help people because that’s the whole reason I wanted to become a doctor in the first place,” Campbell-Bryant said.
The First Gentlemen’s announcement confirmed that two other students won prizes from the Baylor COVID-19 testing incentive program. Hannah C. from Double Oak won a $500 book credit, and Diana H. from Rosenberg received a $3,500 housing reimbursement.
In last week’s Presidential Perspective announcement, President Livingstone wrote that the university would be awarding more students after this semester for their participation in COVID-19 testing.
“We truly appreciate our students’ participation in our COVID-19 testing program, and for this spring, we’ve upped the ante with a $1,500 bookstore credit, free housing or reimbursement for a semester and another $5,000 scholarship,” Livingstone wrote.
