PEMBERVILLE — Alissa Ray has been accepted into the selective biomedical sciences program at Ohio State
University.
There were only 26 spots open in the program.
The Eastwood High School graduate is this year’s Franklin B. Walter Scholastic Award winner through the
Wood County Educational Service Center.
The award was established by the Ohio Superintendent’s Educational Service Center Association to promote
student achievement and recognize outstanding students. A senior from each county within Ohio will
receive the award annually.
Ray is ranked first in her class and is taking College Credit Plus courses at Bowling Green State
University. She has not received less than an A in any of her coursework throughout high school.
The senior had a backup plan though — she was accepted earlier into OSU’s pharmaceutical sciences
program.
“The hands-on research and patient care experiences included in the rigorous curriculum of this program
will be invaluable as I prepare to become a doctor,” Ray wrote in her application.
With six years of Spanish at Eastwood, she plans to minor in Spanish with the goal of studying abroad in
a Spanish-speaking country, possibly with OSU’s Doctors Without Borders chapter.
Ray hopes to attend medical school at either Johns Hopkins, New York University or Duke University.
The senior aspires to be a neurosurgeon or a neurologist.
Her experiences with her grandfather, who had Parkinson’s Disease, helped in her career choice.
“Watching the man I admired most lose his sharp memory, clever wit and pride, is a pain I will never
forget,” she wrote.
Ray also praised the neurologist who worked with her family, “giving us peace of mind and my grandpa a
sliver of self-confidence.”
“I would love to give back by becoming that glimmer of light in another family’s darkness.”
If she takes the path of a surgeon, Ray would operate on tumors and aneurysms, which also have taken
lives of people in her life.
“The brain has always fascinated me with its immense capabilities and mysterious maladies.”
Ray is a National Merit Scholarship Commended Student, scoring within the top 1 percent of all students
on the Preliminary SAT.
She has played softball and volleyball all four years at Eastwood, and was captain of both varsity teams
this year. Her goal this year is to be named First Team All-State in softball.
As a member of Kiwanis Key Club, she organized the Dance Marathon fundraiser for the Children’s Miracle
Network this year and has helped raked leaves for elderly community members. As a student council
member, she coordinated and decorated for the fall homecoming dance.
Ray also has volunteered with the Toledo Zoo Teen program for four years and is a member of National
Honor Society.
As a four-year member of International Club, last year she presented her experiences traveling to Europe
with the club to prospective parents and students.
She is a Spanish tutor and Project SUCCESS tutor; formal attire coordinator for choir; a member of the
Encore Acapella Choir and Tri-M Music Honors Society; and student leader, student actors guild officer
and children’s chorus leader for musical theater.
This year she is taking general chemistry, introduction to statistics, principles of sociology and
Spanish composition and conversation as College Credit Plus classes at BGSU. She is earning an A in all
of them.
She is the daughter of Darrell and Janice Ray, Perrysburg.
