Courtesy photo Shown from left are Monique Fields, Carley McInerney, and Mary Gauthier. McInerney was the recipient of the 2024 Mary Catherine (Cretens) Vandermissen Memorial Scholarship.

ESCANABA — Carley McInerney was recently awarded the 2024 Mary Catherine (Cretens) Vandermissen Memorial Scholarship, which promotes growth in the beauty industry by giving an Escanaba graduate $1,000 to attend the PM School.

In order to be considered for the award, applicants had to submit a 500-word essay on “if you were to style the world over, what would you do?” McInerney’s essay said she would make wigs more affordable for those with hair loss related to medical conditions.

“My Aunt Joan is currently going through chemo for her breast cancer. Watching her confidence drastically decrease over the period of losing her hair breaks my heart. This is just one reason I would like to be able to help others with hair loss,” she wrote.

McInerney also said she would gather stylists together to give free haircuts to local students who cannot afford them and give haircuts to nursing home residents.

“I am so blessed to be able to afford such privileges to be able to get my hair not only cut but also colored. I often take for granted such a small thing in my life, when others are not even granted such opportunities,” she wrote.

McInerney was selected by a scholarship committee composed of Mary Doygen, Peg Lippens, Monique Fields, and Anthony Vandermissen. She will be attending PM School in the fall.