Reagan Harvey Character Counts Scholarship
Reagan Harvey
Character Counts Honoree
About Reagan Harvey
For those that don’t know this incredible young woman, her name is Reagan Harvey, daughter of Chad and Amanda Harvey and sister of Lt. Lyndon Harvey of the USAF.
Reagan has battled most of her life with a very rare form of intestinal failure.
She has endured over 25 surgeries and procedures throughout her 19 year life. She has been a patient at several Children's Hospitals where a solution for her challenges seemed elusive and she has spent a significant portion of her life in and out of the hospital.
She has had 95% of her digestive tract removed and relies on IV nutrition to live.
Through the years of these unrelenting trials, Reagan’s mother, Amanda, says the thing that has always amazed her most about Reagan’s spirit was that, she never has the “why me?” attitude. Instead, she was always worried about how her illness would affect others in her family. Amanda also said that she is amazed at how Reagan continues to have faith that her suffering is serving a higher purpose and that she is continuously thinking of how she can help others.
On several occasions, she has used her birthday as a way to bring hope and love to others. She has a passion for pound animals, and she had a very successful birthday campaign to bring the local pound much needed food for the shelter. 6 dogs and a couple cats have her to thank for being rescued to a very loving home.
It was a tradition at Cook’s Children’s Hospital to give admitted patients a teddy bear. On one of her stays, they did not give her a bear as they had run out. She started a social media campaign to get as many bears as she could as she knew first-hand the impact they made. Through her efforts she was able to gather and deliver 1,000 teddy bears for sick children.
With all her incredible challenges, Reagan didn’t just finish high school. She finished it early. Not surprisingly, she decided that she wants to serve others as a nurse. She began college at OU and was accepted to the nursing program at OU and Oklahoma City University.
She has been particularly thankful to have most recently been under the care of her surgeon, Dr. Kareem, who is world renowned for his innovations in intestinal rehabilitation and transplantation. He completed yet another surgery on Reagan at the Cleveland Clinic in Ohio. She loves Dr. Kareem and the love, hope and joy he gives her. Dr. Kareem had this to say about Reagan: “To meet patients like Reagan is the reason for my becoming a doctor. She portrays an energy that makes what I do so rewarding. She takes what she’s got and makes a life.”
Reagan embodies the spirit of this scholarship named in her honor and we could not be more proud to recognize her!
About Character Counts
The Reagan Harvey Character Counts Scholarship was created to recognize students who have exhibited outstanding character traits throughout their high school years. We see that there are a number of scholarships offered for academic and athletic achievement, but virtually none for being an outstanding human being. We want to change that. Our goal is to grow this scholarship to be one of the most recognized and sought after in our county.
Rules For Nomination and Selection
Students are not able to apply for this scholarship. They must be nominated (based on defined character attributes) by a school faculty member and voted on by a committee of at least 5 people, including a minimum of 1 administrator, 1 counselor and 3 or more teachers or other faculty. Only one student will win this scholarship from each high school in the county. In the event an employee of any school has a child that is nominated for the award, that employee may NOT be included in the selection committee that determines which student will receive the award.
The Award and Ceremony
The scholarship amount will vary each year depending upon our sponsors. Stephens, Bastian and Cartwright, LP, the title sponsor, will strive to make the minimum scholarship amount $2,500 per winning student (1 student per school). Since 2019, the award was $10,000 per student! Please see the "Donation" tab to see how you can help.
The winning students will be recognized in a wonderful awards banquet each year. When this scholarship becomes one of the largest scholarships in the county, we will be demonstrating our investment in our young adults and sending a message that in Wise County, Character Counts!
If you are interested in attending, please contact us at (940) 627-8888. Seating is limited and not guaranteed.