The Amputee Coalition has announced that Riley Quinn of San Carlos, California is the recipient of the Christina Skoski, MD, Scholarship for 2015. Riley will be attending the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), majoring in management science with a math minor at the Sloan School of Management.
The Christina Skoski, MD, Scholarship provides a $1,000 scholarship to a full-time undergraduate student who has congenital limb difference or an amputation.
“We are so pleased to announce Riley as our Skoski Scholarship recipient,” said Susan Stout, president & CEO of the Amputee Coalition. “His accomplishments, his vision and his aspirations for the future embody what the scholarship is all about. His upbeat, positive attitude is an inspiration to all with limb loss. While we received many excellent applications, Riley’s stood out with his outstanding academic and extracurricular achievements, and with his clearly defined career goals.”
The youngest in his family, it was Riley’s goal to play the Big Three sports in high school: football, basketball and baseball.
“I really can’t believe I accomplished it,” said Riley. “My senior year, my teams were fortunate enough to win two league championships and two section championships. Another goal of mine was to earn all A’s during high school. Fortunately I accomplished that, being the only senior in my class of 400 to earn all A’s.”
Riley expressed his heartfelt gratitude to the Amputee Coalition, saying, “I was honored and thrilled when I heard that I was the recipient of the Christina Skoski, MD, Scholarship. I am fortunate to have part of my undergraduate education paid for by the Amputee Coalition. I hope to be an inspiration to other young people facing obstacles and challenges. I want to work with others to find ways to fulfill their potential.”
Riley added an extra expression of gratitude to the Amputee Coalition that goes back more than 18 years, when Riley was born without his left hand and his mother subscribed to the Amputee Coalition’s magazine inMotion, which “gave her hope and comfort.”
“My parents were thrilled when I was born and said as long as I was alive we could handle anything. So I guess that kind of set the tone for my next 18 years,” Riley explained.
Established by Christina Skoski, MD, a longtime supporter of the Amputee Coalition who has lived with a hemipelvectomy amputation due to cancer since the age of 16, the scholarship is awarded annually to high school seniors or college freshmen with limb loss/difference who demonstrate excellence in their scholarly pursuits. Recipients of the Christina Skoski, MD, Scholarship receive $1,000 toward the costs of attending a college or university. Past recipients include students currently enrolled at Harvard University and Johns Hopkins University.