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Big Picture High School senior wins big scholarship

Jazmyne Davis has eye on medicine major

A Big Picture High School senior Monday saw her hard work pay off in the form of a $10,000 scholarship, applicable for up to four years, to study medicine.

Jazmyne Davis received the DLM Family Scholarship at a surprise ceremony in the presence of family and classmates at the close of the school day. David and Lynn Mitzlaff delivered the news. They gave a similar package two years ago.

The Mitzlaff scholarship is administered by the Durango Education Foundation.

“Jazmyne came to the forefront after we read applications and did interviews,” Lynn Mitzlaff said. “She had it all together.”

Jazmyne, 17, who sandwiched a year at the Mercy Family Birth Center between sophomore and senior year internships with Dr. Joe Murphy at Mercy Family Medicine, wants to become a neonatal physician.

Jazmyne has had the goal since being present at the birth of her sister when she was 13 years old. She shadowed Murphy on his rounds to clinics, births and to interviews for a study he is doing on Alzheimer’s disease.

She rarely missed a chance follow Murphy, even when it was a night emergency or when she had to beg a ride before she got a driver’s license.

Jazmyne’s senior project was to become certified to teach CPR in order to start a business offering lessons. She has begun to give workshops in the field.

The dedication and goal-orientation paid off, the Mitzlaffs said. They wanted their scholarship to help not necessarily a straight-A student, but one who had character, motivation, a clear vision, financial need and the possibility to succeed.

“We want to help,” David Mitzlaff said. “We want to make a difference in someone’s life.”

Jazmyne was not confident she would get the scholarship.

“I didn’t rate my chances too high,” she said. “But I gave it as much effort as I could.”

Wendy Javier with Trio Talent Search was on hand to see Jazmyne’s work pay off.

Trio Talent Search, founded in 1965 as part of President Lyndon Johnson’s War on Poverty, offers various programs for seventh-graders to seniors who have college potential. Javier works with 650 students in 11 schools in Archuleta, La Plata and Montezuma counties. Jazmyne participated in the group’s programs.

“Most of our students are first-generation college students,” Javier said.

daler@durangoherald.com



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