Sep 6, 2014 2 min read

Michael Callas of Burgettstown has won a $5,000 scholarship from Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance Co. and MassMutual Pittsburgh for high-achieving college students with a focus on careers in the insurance and financial services industry. Callas is a junior at Clarion University of Pennsylvania, where he is majoring in finance. He has a 3.79 grade-point average. In an esssay that helped him win the scholarship, Callas wrote, “Growing up without a mother has taught me so many life lessons. It has made me a much stronger person, seeing what drugs can do to someone.” Callas was raised by his father from the age of 4 after his parents divorced due to his mother’s drug addiction and mental health problems. Callas has volunteered as an advocate to stop drug abuse.

Ethan C. Keller of Canonsburg was awarded an annual $4,000 scholarship by the Pennsylvania Institute of Certified Public Accountants. Keller attends Robert Morris University and is a member of the Association of Future Accountants and the Association for Operations Management. Scholarship recipients are accounting majors who have completed a minimum of 36 credit hours in general study. They are selected on the basis of intellectual capacity, leadership potential, financial need and intent to pursue a career in accounting. The scholarship renews each year until graduation, as long as the recipient maintains a 3.0 grade-point average and remains an accounting major.