Marlie Dodson dreamed of someday being a UCF cheerleader and a nurse. She proudly wore the cheerleading uniforms her uncle Robert Agnew \u201999 gave her as gifts. They were just a few of the cherished black and gold items in her wardrobe given to her by family members, a proud groups of Knights which also includes her mother Sarah Dodson \u201901, aunts Jennifer Agnew \u201994, April Agnew \u201997 and Rebecca Dodson \u201911.<\/p>\n
\u201cShe was a complete ray of sunshine,\u201d says April. The sunny smile was a constant even during a lifelong battle with brain cancer to which little Marlie succumbed on December 31, 2011. During her treatment, she brought joy to many including the UCF nursing students who cared for her at Arnold Palmer Hospital.<\/p>\n
After losing her child, Marlie\u2019s mom reached out to UCF in the hopes of establishing a permanent tribute to the little girl who wanted to be a Knight. Because Marlie\u2019s generous spirit made such an impact on those who cared for her while she was in the hospital, Sarah knew that the UCF College of Nursing would be a perfect home for Marlie\u2019s memory.<\/p>\n
The Marlie Kai Dodson Memorial Endowed Scholarship will support future caregivers. Once fully funded, the scholarship will exist in perpetuity and be open to any nursing student who is committed to making an impact on others\u2019 lives.<\/p>\n
Through this very special endowed scholarship, the little girl who worried about others will get to help more people than she could have ever imagined. Marlie\u2019s mother, a teacher in the Polk County School where her daughter was only able to complete the first grade, notes that she learned a lot from her daughter, \u201cmore than she did from me.\u201d \u201cMarlie taught us about patience and being there\u2014and love,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n
If you would like to support the Marlie Kai Dodson Memorial Endowed Scholarship, please contact Katie Korkosz at the UCF Foundation, 407-823-1600 or katiek@ucf.edu.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
A new endowed scholarship honors the memory of a little girl with big dreams.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":20,"featured_media":34424,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"template-twocol.php","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"lazy_load_responsive_images_disabled":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":"","_wp_rev_ctl_limit":""},"categories":[12],"tags":[830,4869,4163,202],"tu_author":[],"class_list":["post-34423","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-health","tag-cheerleading","tag-college-of-nursing","tag-scholarships","tag-alumni"],"yoast_head":"\n