Our Stars – Annie Donnellon, A Scholarship Winner

Who are our Recent College Graduates?

By Joyce Rogers

On Sunday afternoon, Feb. 19, I had the honor and privilege of interviewing Annie Donnellon, a young woman who graduated from NKU in 2010 with a major in music and a minor in Spanish. Annie uses her talents, skills, and knowledge in many ways as a volunteer. She has served as a phone answerer at the administrative offices of Su Casa Hispanic Center and served as a greeter and interpreter at a health fair while also representing the Clovernook Center for the Blind. She uses her musical talent as a member of MUSE, a Cincinnati women’s choir, that fosters musical excellence and social change through its many performances at churches, sporting events, and other places where music and a spirit of inclusion are highly valued and gratefully enjoyed. Annie’s face and voice filled with delight and pride as she told me about her work with Vacaciones Utiles, a summer program for young children, where Annie taught preschool through second grade children the joy of singing Spanish songs and playing instruments together.

Annie recalled that she began learning Braille at the age of three through the Early Childhood Development Program at the Cincinnati Association for the Blind, a program supported in part from funds provided by the Western Hills Lions Club. While Annie currently works as a proof reader at the Clovernook Center, she is thinking of a career in music therapy after acquiring a degree such as that offered at the College of Mt. St. Joseph.

As a member of the American Council of the Blind of Ohio, Greater Cincinnati Chapter (ACBOGCC), Annie has served on our Scholarship and Awards Committee, which each year presents a graduating high school senior with a scholarship and recognizes the contributions of individuals and organizations to ACBOGCC’s mission. In 2005, Annie Donnellon won the first ACBOGCC scholarship; now, she is chairing that scholarship committee.

Despite all of our social ills today including neglected children, broken families, and the kind of snobbery that excludes others; recent college graduates like Annie Donnellon can give us reason to hope and trust in a future of caring and responsible people who reach out to others. When I asked Annie what message she wanted to convey to readers, she said, “I want to be seen as a person just as other people are seen.” With a little thought, effort, and consideration from others to include Annie in the work and benefits of adult life; Annie will continue making this world a better place. Also, congratulations are due Annie because she just became engaged on Valentine’s Day. We can be sure her children will be blessed with having a talented, capable, and loving mother.