2018 Henry Ford College Scholarship Winner Merlana Selman (center) receives her scholarship from Stacy Bazman (left), HFC Donor Relations and Scholarship manager and Larry Johnson, Dearborn Goodfellows executive director.
Henry Ford College nursing student Mevlana Selman couldn’t believe she’s the first recipient of the Dearborn Goodfellows Scholarship.
“It’s crazy! I had no idea,” Selman said. “I wasn’t aware I’m the first. I’ve never been the first at anything. It’s an honor.”
In addition to winning the $500 scholarship, Selman’s photo and story will be featured in the Dearborn Goodfellows newspaper’s annual holiday edition that will be sold by Goodfellows members throughout the city Nov. 30 to Dec. 1. The cost is a donation. This is part of the Goodfellows’ “No Dearborn Child Without a Christmas!” program, which the organization has been doing in one form or another since its inception in 1922.
Selman is flattered by this attention and, admittedly, slightly overwhelmed.
“This not normal for me,” she said. “I’m a very quiet person. Still, it’s an honor and a great feeling!”
HFC was like home
A 2015 alumna of Dearborn High School, Selman is the fourth of sixth siblings. Two of her older sisters, Vlora Selman and Argentime Selman, graduated from HFC with their associate’s degrees in accounting and nursing, respectively.
“I’m not a creature of change; I’m a creature of habit,” Mevlana Selman said. “HFC was the best option for me when I graduated from high school. HFC was like home; it was very intimate. It was always HFC. Nothing else was even an option – at least, in my mind anyway.”
Originally, Selman was a business major, but she quickly changed it to nursing. She got her first taste of nursing at age 13 when her late grandmother, who’d suffered a debilitating stroke, came to live with her family. Selman was one of her grandmother’s primary caregivers, taking on this great responsibility at such a young age.
“Me, my mom, and my sister (Argentime) came together and helped out,” Selman said. “You could say it was my first hands-on experience.”
Scoring high on the NAT
Earlier this year, Selman passed the HESI Nursing Admission Test, which allows students entry into HFC’s nursing program. Selman took the NAT before and didn’t pass it.
“I was super shell-shocked,” she said. “I questioned myself. I questioned if nursing was the right program for me. I put it off and put if off until I couldn’t put if off anymore.”
Determined to pass the NAT, Selman put in long hours studying for it in addition to her other classes at HFC. She scored in the high 90s.
“I was so proud of myself – and relieved,” she said, laughing.
Selman is doing her clinicals at Beaumont Hospital, Trenton, which end Dec. 6. Her next semester of clinicals begins in early 2019.
“We are so proud of Mevlana and honored that she chose Henry Ford College,” said Dr. Susan Shunkwiler, dean of the HFC School of Health and Human Services. “Her dedication and hard work paid off. She exemplifies the type of nurse we need in our profession today.”
Upon graduating from HFC in 2020 with her associate’s degree in nursing, Selman plans to transfer to either Michigan State University or the University of Michigan, where she will complete her undergraduate degree in nursing. She plans to specialize in pediatric intensive care.
“HFC’s nursing program is top notch and renowned throughout the region,” Selman said. “I am honored to have been accepted into it and I’ve learned so much.
“The nursing program at HFC will not only serve me well when I transfer to a four-year university, but also in the field. I am proud to be a student in the nursing program here at HFC.”