MBLExGuide Scholarship Winner

Thank you to all the applicants, and to the massage school faculty and staff who helped us promote the MBLExGuide scholarship to their students.

Stacey Creighton

Spring 2023. Oregon School of Massage. Portland, Oregon

I have a background in anthropology and accounting, as well as various real estate projects. My skills are represented at Oregon School of Massage as a general concern for social wellness and economic stability. I’m interested in pursuing massage therapy in the hospitality field, but most likely, my massage career will integrate information that I’ve gained from my preceding professions as well. It may include research and publishing. I’m currently evaluating how the profession impacts the community, market conditions that affect the therapist’s capacity to practice independently, saturation, salary and competing professions. This scholarship funds will help pay down my educational loan.

Bethany Peterson

Fall 2022. Community College of Rhode Island. Newport, Rhode Island

As a former teacher, Americorps intern, and equitable hiring coordinator, I am passionate and committed to public service, justice work, and helping others. I am looking forward to bringing these experiences and skills to the massage therapy field. My interests include hospital-based massage, research, teaching, and equity – particularly through access to massage therapy as a career path and massage treatment. I will be using this scholarship for my final semester this summer at the Community College of Rhode Island before graduating in August 2023. I look forward to a massage therapy career filled with continuous learning and growth.

Previous Scholarship Winners

Lela Anderson

Spring 2022. Southern Union State Community College. Opelika, Alabama

I have long been interested in a holistic approach to health. I teach and practice yoga and believe that positive lifestyle changes can affect our lives in amazing ways. I plan to become a physical therapist assistant, and I know that incorporating massage therapy in my patient interactions will benefit them immensely. Additionally, my goal is to have a business where I offer massage therapy in conjunction with private yoga instruction. I plan to use this scholarship to expand my knowledge of different modalities of massage such as Thai, reflexology, and lymphatic drainage. I love that massage is a way to connect with people while improving the quality of their lives!

Angela Bergfeld

Fall 2021. Parker University. Dallas, Texas

I’m excited to start my career in massage therapy because I have a passion for helping others and spreading positivity. This new career path is amazing because it will allow me to promote self-care, make a difference in other’s lives and show how natural healing is so beneficial. As of right now I plan to start in a spa environment and maybe transition to a chiropractic office later because that’s where I got the spark to pursue massage therapy. They pair well together in my opinion because that’s what I experienced as a patient of both. This scholarship is a great opportunity and step toward those goals as I will be able to cover the future cost of continuing education in adding techniques such as deep tissue, myofascial and craniosacral therapies to diversify my portfolio.

Rosemarie Nocita

Spring 2021. Oregon School of Massage. Portland, Oregon

I love that massage encourages joyful, nourishing, and therapeutic movement, both for the massage therapist and for the client. I am excited to interact with clients through such a genuine and intentional discipline in order to help them to determine and achieve their own visions of wellness. I will start work as a massage therapist at a chiropractic clinic, and eventually hope to start my own clinic with my fiancé, who is currently in chiropractic school. I plan to use this scholarship to attend continuing education courses such as oncology and lymphatic drainage massage, and am looking forward to exploring more modalities in the future.

Valerie Henderson

2020. Central Oregon Community College. Bend, Oregon

I have always viewed massage therapy as a form of self care that can foster both emotional and physical healing. Self care is more important now than ever, and I am so excited to be able to positively impact the lives of others. I plan on using this scholarship to further my education (hopefully becoming certified in the Graston Technique) and start a sports medicine-focused career. We all need connection and joy in our lives, and I cannot think of a better medium to encourage this than massage therapy.

Paolo Busante

2019. Cayce/Reilly School of Massage. Virginia Beach, Virginia

I’m excited to become a massage therapist. It’s a meaningful profession that can enable me to make a positive difference in other people’s lives. I plan to use this scholarship to take continuing education courses on different topics, such as oncology and reflexology massage, that will broaden my knowledge and perspective of massage therapy. There’s so much to learn about massage therapy, and I’d like to understand as much as I can about it. I want to constantly develop my skills and to provide the best possible massage that I can give in order to help my clients feel better.

Camilette Rhea

2019. Bodyworks Massage Institute. Evansville, Indiana

My passion for living a healthy and happy lifestyle has fueled me to strive to help others achieve the same goal. My motto is, “When you feel your best, you can do your best.” I plan on using this scholarship to help me further my education beyond massage therapy with training in muscle re-education and cranial sacral therapy. I’m passionate about discovering and resolving musculoskeletal challenges, and my aspiration is to equip others to be the best and healthiest they can be.