11/18/2025
Each year, Teen Health Connection awards its highly competitive, Johnston Ziegler Safrit Youth Leadership Scholarship to a student who exemplifies leadership, advocacy, and service.
Jewel Wood, our 2023 scholarship winner from Hopewell High School, is now a junior at Howard University in Washington, DC. She shares how the scholarship helped ease her transition to college where she is studying Health Science and Human Development.
Q: How has the scholarship helped you with your education and following graduation?
A: The Johnston Ziegler Safrit scholarship significantly helped ease the financial burden of my freshman year at Howard University. That year was a big adjustment, financially for my parents and mentally for me. With unexpected costs and unpredictability of circumstances during my first year, this scholarship helped put things at ease. It allowed me to fully focus on my studies, and reinforced my commitment to pursuing a career in healthcare and serving youth.
Q: What are you doing now?
A: I am currently in my third year of undergraduate studies at Howard University, majoring in Health Science and minoring in Human Development. After graduation, I plan to pursue further education to become a pediatric occupational therapist.
Q: What advice would you have for anyone considering applying for the scholarship?
A: My advice for anyone applying for this scholarship is to be authentic and be confident. Don't compare yourself to other applicants, who you may think did something more meaningful or significant in service than you. Whatever you've done and whatever you're passionate about, share it! It is unique to you as an individual, and Teen Health Connection values that! Don't doubt yourself when applying, and simply do your best!
Q: Anything you would like to say about Teen Health Connection and how important our services are to teens?
A: Teen Health Connection plays a vital role in the Charlotte youth community, particularly in supporting teens' physical and behavioral health. This organization has cultivated a safe space for young people to learn, grow, be cared for, and feel empowered for success in their future. To see how this organization has grown through various programs and volunteer opportunities amazes me. They are doing great work in the community, which is especially crucial to the rising generation. I'm extremely grateful for the support they've provided, not just financially through scholarships, but through their commitment to helping teens become healthy, confident adults.
