ESCANABA — Bay College distributed The Award for Exemplary Persistence on Thursday, April 25. It is designed for students who showed motivation and determination in completing their higher education goals, regardless of the barriers in their way. This is the first time this award has been given.

At the event, some recipients shared their experiences. Rosemary Hickman told about being a non-traditional student who struggled with technology, Lacesha Welch spoke about helping raise her younger siblings but having to leave her family to start college, and Adriana Luzi told the audience about her academic struggles in high school and how she sought out a college that would give her chance when others would not. She found that in Bay College.

Additional recipients of the award include: Diana Behrens, Samantha Biehn, Megan Burch, Kirsten Churhill, Kylee Curry-Backlund, Zachary Denome, Laura Desotell, Trevor Dollhopf, Keaton Erickson, Devin Houlton, Jaeden Hudson, Ronnie Jaeger, Janice Krol, Blade LaVigne, Roxanne Lockwood, Kenny McCoy, Shannon McLeod, Kiri Russell, Joshua Simmons, Andy Street, David Swanson, Angela Tuyls, Laura Urban, and Jessica VanZile.