Conway Scholarship Supports ‘Cindy’s Dream’
When Cindy Abu, VCU Class of 2027, scrolls through her phone, she sometimes has the urge to dial her aunt’s number, but she knows the woman who inspired her to pursue nursing will never again pick up.
Before immigrating to America from Cameroon in 2018, Abu, a nursing and psychology double major, lost her aunt to untreated illness.
“In my country, it’s money before service. When my aunt got sick, she was lacking in treatment because we were poor and didn’t have the money,” Abu said.
Abu and her younger siblings lived with her aunt in a small home for several years, and she would accompany her aunt to doctors’ visits when symptoms arose. Stomach pain. Chest pain. Full body aches. They ran basic tests, but medical facilities charged for more in-depth examinations that they couldn’t afford.
“She passed away a couple years later,” Abu said softly. “She was like a mother to me and being with her through that time is one of the things that drew me to the nursing profession.”
Abu is a recipient of a Joanne and William Conway Scholarship at the VCU School of Nursing. In 2022, the Conways made a $13 million gift to the school through their Bedford Falls Foundation–DAF. It was the largest gift in the school’s history and collectively, they have given more than $16 million since 2020.
VCU stuck out to me. It’s not far from home, the program is one of the top and it’s one of the schools that has its own health system, which is impressive.
Cindy Abu, VCU Class of 2027
Today, Conway Scholarships offer more than $2.5 million each year to support prelicensure students in the traditional or accelerated B.S. programs, students in the RN to B.S. program and doctoral students.
“I’m able to go to school without having to stress about working overtime or picking up an extra shift,” said Abu, who, in addition to being a full-time student, works as a TA at the VCU Center for Interprofessional Education and Collaborative Care. “I work the hours I desire to work, and with the scholarship, I’m able to focus on my goals.”
Perhaps her biggest goal is to one day return to Cameroon to establish an organization where nurses and doctors can provide easy-access health care to village residents. At many points in her life, even dreaming of a goal like this one seemed unimaginable.
As a child in Cameroon where she was born and raised, Abu’s education was interrupted for five years due to civil unrest, so her family turned to farming as a means of survival.
Bereft of stability, this central African country suffered strikes and conflicts between the dominating Francophones and the marginalized Anglophones. As an Anglophone, or an English speaker, Abu had to live with depleted resources, increased poverty and financial barriers to education and health care.
Hope and respite came when Abu’s grandmother won the visa lottery to America. Soon after, her mother and siblings followed with Abu joining them some years later in Northern Virginia.
The road to VCU, however, was far from paved.
“It was a struggle,” Abu admitted. “I hadn’t been going to school, so it was a big change to come here and start over with learning, but I’m really grateful to be here.”
Abu worked hard. At school. At earning money. At helping her single mother take care of her siblings. She applied to the School of Nursing and was rejected. So she worked even harder, determined to improve her GPA.
The second time around, perseverance won.
“I was overjoyed,” Abu said. “VCU stuck out to me. It’s not far from home, the program is one of the top and it’s one of the schools that has its own health system, which is impressive.”
Despite the hurdles Abu faced at such a young age, she continues to keep a bright smile on her face and shows no signs of giving up or slowing down.
Her advice to future nursing students?
“Everyone has struggles. Some of them we don’t mention, some we do, but there’s always sunshine at the end of the tunnel. Just keep pushing past the tears and homework and pressure to achieve your dreams,” she said. “For me, the scholarship is helping make my dream come to life. But I don’t think it’s the American dream. It’s my dream. It’s Cindy’s dream.”
If you would like to support student scholarships at the VCU School of Nursing, please contact Jess Sorensen, the school’s senior director of development, at 804-615-5877 or jlsorensen@vcu.edu.
