It’s not uncommon for a trauma surgeon to pull a 30-plus hour shift.
Junior Taneesha Greene, a general science major who dreams of becoming a trauma surgeon someday, is no stranger to long hours. When she was a senior in high school, she worked up to 35 hours a week at Taco Bell while attending classes and volunteering at a local hospital.
“I got used to it,” she said. “Staying up all night is easy because I used to do it in high school.”
Greene was one of six Ron Herndon Scholarship recipients in 2001, a scholarship funded by the Black United Fund, a philanthropic organization that provides grants to nonprofit groups that serve Oregon’s low-income communities. In addition to helping several students attend the University, the scholarship fund has helped send two students to Stanford and several more to historically black institutions.
Black United Fund Campaign Manager Adrian Livingstone said scholarship recipients need to have leadership and volunteer experience and “outstanding personalities.”
Operations Manager Karen Powell, who interviewed Greene for the scholarship, said Greene impressed her.
“One of the questions we ask the scholarship candidates is what makes them unique,” Powell said. “Taneesha had a list.”
While Greene said the $1000 scholarship didn’t necessarily make the
difference between her attending
college or not, she added that every little bit counts.
“It’s a thousand dollars that I don’t have to worry about paying back,” she said.
Greene said she is financially independent now, making it even more
difficult to pay for her college education.
“I didn’t want to depend on my parents,” she said. “I figured I could do it all for myself.”
Greene is currently taking 12 units of science classes while holding down two jobs: one as a receptionist at the Women’s Center and the other as programs coordinator for the University’s Black Student Union.
Before she cut back her work schedule at the Women’s Center, Greene said her schedule was packed.
“Every time I was free I had to work,” she said. “It was hectic.”
In fact, after her father had quadruple bypass surgery a few weeks ago, Greene said she was on the brink of dropping out.
“I called my mom and said, ‘I’m done,’” she said. “But my dad called me from the hospital and said ‘You’re not quitting.’”
Greene said she was inspired to become a trauma surgeon after she joined a health program at her high school and saw the television show “ER.”
“It’s exciting,” she said of the occupation. “You never know what you’re going to get.”
The soft-spoken Greene said her calm demeanor will be an advantage to her when she is a surgeon.
“I think that’s the best way to be,” she said, chuckling. “You can’t have the doctor and the patient hysterical.”
Greene’s mother, Bobbie Greene, said she’s not sure what keeps
Taneesha going.
“It’s her being strong-headed I guess,” Bobbie Greene said. “She made up her mind that that was what she was going to do and she’s doing it.”
In addition to funding the Ron Herndon Scholarship program, Black United Fund finances a number of other programs in Eugene.
Leadership, Education, Adventure, Direction is one of those programs.
“They reach out to low-income youth and provide them with opportunities to do adventure activities, like white water rafting and horseback riding, that build leadership skills,” Livingstone said.
Another local program the group funds is the Juneteenth Celebration. Juneteenth is celebrated on June
19 and commemorates the day the news of the end of the Civil War reached Texas.
“It’s a celebration of freedom,” Powell said.
The Juneteenth Celebration Committee provides scholarships for high-school seniors.
The Black United Fund has provided more than 750 grants to nonprofits since 1980, Livingstone said. She further emphasized that in spite of the fund’s name, the money isn’t just for organizations that serve African-American communities.
“Our focus is the low-income community,” she said. “We want to make sure that we are reaching out to those communities and that they don’t fall through the cracks.”
