Andrea Johnson/MDN Alicia Westover, who plans to become a surgical ophthalmologist, is a winner of the $10,000 2018 Horatio Alger North Dakota State Scholarship.

A senior at Minot High School-Magic City Campus is one step further on her way to medical school thanks to a $10,000 2018 Horatio Alger North Dakota State Scholarship.

Alicia Westover said the scholarship will be a great help in paying for her studies at the University of North Dakota this fall, where she plans to major in biology with a focus on entering medical school. She would eventually like to become a surgical ophthalmologist.

To win the scholarship, Westover said she wrote an essay about some of the challenges her family has overcome in recent years. She lived in Minnesota until she was 15. In 2014, her parents, Keith and Shelly Westover, moved the family to Minot and took jobs in the oil field. The family had amassed some debts and her mother had battled breast cancer, said Westover, who still becomes emotional when talking about that time.

She said her mom is now doing well and her struggle with the illness is one of the reasons Westover is now interested in the medical field.

Westover said she has also always been interested in the science field and knew she was interested in ophthalmology after she had the opportunity to job shadow ophthalmologist Dr. Chad Wolsky.

She said she is fortunate to attend Minot High School and to have been given the opportunity to take so many classes that are geared towards students interested in the medical field. Since she was a high school sophomore, Westover has taken classes such as biomed, human body systems and Medical Careers II. No other high school in the sate offers so many opportunities, she said.

Westover is one of 13 students in North Dakota to receive the Horatio Alger Scholarship. The program awards recipients who have overcome adversity with $10,000 to apply toward the tuition of the college or university of his or her choice. The Horatio Alger Association is one of the nation’s largest privately-funded, need-based scholarships programs.

More information about the scholarship can be found at www.horatioalger.org.