Children of Fallen Patriots scholar Bailey B. is the daughter of U.S. Marine Corps Captain Matthew B. who passed away in 2002. When asked how friends and family would describe her father, Bailey says, “My dad was extremely passionate and dedicated in terms of his career and family life. My dad knew that he wanted to attend the Naval Academy since he was six years old, and that is exactly what he did.”
With the help of Children of Fallen Patriots, Bailey is studying Behavioral Neuroscience at the University of San Diego and will graduate in 2024. She spends her free time as a mentor for students transferring to her school and is a member of the Neuroscience Club. Upon graduation, Bailey plans to attend graduate school with the hopes of becoming a Physician’s Assistant in the future.
Bailey explains the biggest lessons she has learned during her college journey and during the pandemic. “When Covid-19 hit and I had to return home to San Diego, I realized that I was much happier and focused in San Diego. In this time, I decided to switch my major from finance to STEM, specifically behavioral neuroscience. I realized that although I enjoyed learning about business and corporate tactics and money-handling, my true calling was to work in the medical field to help people.”
When asked how Children of Fallen Patriots has impacted her during her time in college, Bailey says, “Children of Fallen Patriots has served as tremendous mentors not only by helping me through financial hardships, but also by serving as life mentors and people that I can come to whenever I need assistance with life. I feel so blessed to have their support in aiding me through college, especially with how expensive private University tuition and living expenses are. On behalf of myself and all other scholarship recipients, I want to say thank you for your generosity and aid not only financially, but also emotionally.”
There are approximately 25,000 children who have lost an active-duty parent in the military over the last 35 years. The vision of Children of Fallen Patriots Foundation is to ensure that every such child receives all necessary college funding.