Mike Duman Auto Sales recently awarded three scholarships to local students.

Aliyyah Copeland received the $1,000 scholarship. Christian Lawrence received a $750 scholarship, and Jonathan Donnellan received a $500 scholarship.

Copeland graduated from Lakeland High School with honors and was part of the Biomedical Sciences Program while at Lakeland.

After researching a number of careers in the medical field, she decided to be a nurse.

“Nursing really appeals to who I am and what I value,” Copeland said in her application video. “They treat the patients as individuals and not just the disease. It’s a career that demands you to put your heart and soul into it, and that’s what I want a career to say about me.”

Copeland already has shadowed nurses in the women’s center at a Sentara hospital. She’s attending James Madison University to earn a Bachelor of Science in Nursing degree.

“I chose JMU, because they have a new health and sciences building,” she said. “It is highly technologically advanced, and it has a real functioning hospital floor.”

She added that she liked the program’s job placement rate for post-graduates is 100 percent.

“My passions are giving back, working hard, spending time with my family and friends and I’m passionate about building my faith and my relationship with God,” Copeland said. She also co-founded the Cavs Care Community Service Club at Lakeland.

Lawrence is currently in his second year at Paul D. Camp Community College working on his associate degree in general studies. He plans on transferring to a four-year university to get a bachelor’s degree in computer engineering and eventually aim for a career as an IT manager.

“What I’m very passionate about is helping others get through tough times,” Lawrence said on his application video. “The blessings come back to you when you help others.”

Donnellan graduated from Nansemond River High School with honors and was a varsity soccer player during his junior year.

He plans to attend Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University to double major in aeronautical science and homeland security.

He has been involved with his church and been on many mission trips to rural areas of Virginia. He also enjoys travel, writing music and working out.