PA student receives military family scholarship
Riverside, Calif. (March 3, 2025) – Alyssa Perry, a student in the master’s of physician assistant studies program, received a $2,500 scholarship from Folds of Honor, an organization that provides scholarships to families of fallen or disabled service members.
During the 2024-25 school year, Folds of Honor awarded scholarships totaling $50 million.
“Receiving the scholarship was so unexpected. It felt amazing,” Perry said.
As part of the application, Perry wrote essays on her experience being a child of a military member, how it made her who she is and why it shaped her desire to be a physician assistant.
“Being in a military family, it really endows you with a sense of grit,” she said.
She moved frequently growing up, whenever her stepfather, a Marine, was assigned to new military bases. She’s lived in Louisiana, Hawaii, Massachusetts and California, changing schools and adapting to new environments. She also had to adjust to the emptiness of her stepfather’s absence whenever he was deployed to other countries such as Kuwait and Afghanistan.
“Learning the value of being self-sufficient and being gritty and having that determination early on primes you for a future where you continue to do that,” she said.
The physicality of being a Marine took a toll on her stepfather’s body, and he sustained multiple injuries in combat, including impaired hearing due to years of working with artillery.
“He has faced his injuries with grace, and I got to be part of his recovery team, caring for him after surgery. It taught me about resilience, and it also gave me a front-row seat to what recovery looks like for veterans,” Perry said.
Perry’s stepfather retired from the military after 30 years of service as a master gunnery sergeant, the highest enlisted rank.
Being part of a military family also taught Perry that family isn't just the people that you're born to; you can find support anywhere so long as you want to be part of that community.
This was the case for her decision to enroll at California Baptist University.
“I wanted to find a community that was supportive because you need that support to be able to get through such a rigorous program,” she said. “CBU makes it their mission to help you individually in the program as best they can. They value taking care of students as part of their family.”
Perry takes it a step further as the social chair for her cohort, where she helps organize study sessions and celebrate birthdays, making sure that every student feels cherished as part of the class. The events let the students gather in a more casual setting and build rapport.
“There are only 30 of us in my cohort, so we're very close and we're in close quarters all the time,” she said.
Dr. Mary Ann Stahovich, assistant professor of physician assistant studies, said Perry has done an excellent job as the social chair in part due to the soft skills she developed in a military family.
“When people have to relocate frequently, it becomes necessary to develop flexibility and social skills so they can acclimate quickly to a new school and to new friends,” Stahovich said. “Having a social chair who is as active, creative and flexible as Alyssa, it means a lot for the whole class.”
Perry graduates this year but isn’t set on which field she will go into yet. Whatever she decides, she knows she can rely on her support system at CBU even after graduation.
“I have amazing friends in my cohort, and I have staff that looks after me, so it's very reassuring. In medicine there's a lot of burnout, so it's nice to know that you're supported,” she said.
CBU is a military friendly university, and the PA program values applicants with military experience.
“We recognize veterans’ dedication and discipline. The PA profession itself started with three corpsmen who became the first physician assistants,” Stahovich said.
For more information about CBU’s M.S. in Physician Assistant Studies program, visit calbaptist.edu/pa.