County Boy Awarded Scholarship as a Resilient Student

Three kids of workers who suffered a serious workplace injury have been awarded need-based scholarships from the MEMIC group.

One of those three is from right here in Aroostook County. Benjamin Ruest of Madawaska is one of the recipients of this year's MEMIC Harvey Picker Horizon Scholarship. Also awarded scholarships were Dylan Collin of Trenton and Henry Laurita of Hope, Maine. The total amount of scholarships handed out to the three young men was $20,000. Counting this year's awards, MEMIC has given scholarships to 36 young scholars totaling $190,000.

Benjamin Ruest will be a freshman at UMaine Fort Kent and is studying Criminal Justice with a minor in Homeland Security. Benjamin is bilingual, an Eagle Scout, works part-time at High View Manor Rehab and Nursing Center, plays hockey and is in the youth ministry. Ruest’s teachers at Madawaska High School praise him for his work ethic, determination, self-discipline and consideration for others. His mother is a teacher and his father worked at a local paper mill when he was injured.

The scholarship is named after former Camden resident Harvey Picker, a renowned physicist, educator, philanthropist and advocate for education. The MEMIC Harvey Picker Horizon Scholarship has been awarded yearly since 2001 to the husband, wife or child of a worker who has suffered a serious injury or death at work. MEMIC is a workers compensation specialist.