"Chico 2011" by Virginia Intermont College rising junior Kayla Robbins.
The Virginia Press Women's Foundation awarded Virginia Intermont College rising junior Kayla Robbins the 2012 Agnes Cooke Scholarship for her photography.
The VPW Foundation usually grants one $550 scholarship to a deserving college undergraduate or graduate in pursuit of a communications career, but the board decided to grant two scholarships this year. Robbins was beside herself when she received the news, but what came next was an answer to her prayers.
"I had been praying about this scholarship for months, asking that it would be given to the person who most deserved it – even if I wasn't that person," said Robbins. "So when I received an e-mail from the foundation stating that the other scholarship winner was not able to accept the award and that the board unanimously decided to grant me the full $1,100, my mind was blown. God has provided for me beyond all I could imagine and that's humbling."
As part of the application for the scholarship, Robbins submitted three photographs taken while on a mission trip to Nicaragua.
"Although I had an array of photographs I could have chosen from, I feel the ones I made in Nicaragua best capture who I want to be as a photographer, where I want to go, and what my vision is becoming," she said.
