Louise Monroe graduated from Boothbay Region High School in 2013. She is now a sophomore at the University of Massachusetts in Amherst, or UMass Amherst, and is the recipient of the Boothbay Region Student Aid Fund’s (BRSAF) Tandy Scholarship.

Monroe declared a double major of English and communications and hopes to take a little more time before deciding which career she will embark upon.

Emily Dickinson lived and wrote most of her 1,700 poems in the town of Amherst, Massachusetts. She is a highly celebrated American author. Perhaps Louise Monroe, who has visited Dickinson’s home, will one day, like Emily, be included in “The Oxford Companion to American Literature.”

Monroe is continually reading and absorbing literature for her courses each day. She takes honor classes that require her to attend seminars and literature discussions.

This semester, rather than being immersed in the world of 19th century American literature, Monroe is studying modern fiction. Among the many required books that she is reading are, "Passage to India" by E. M. Forster (published in 1924) and "Wide Sargasso Sea" by Jean Rhys, published in 1966.

Both are considered among the top 100 best English language novels written. She has also read Geoffrey Chaucer, who is considered by many to be the greatest English poet of the Middle Ages. He is known best for "The Canterbury Tales." She has also read "Beowulf," author unknown, an old English poem often viewed as one of the most important works of Old English literature.

Monroe’s passion for sports, her hours of high school field hockey, has thus been replaced with a desire to blog for a college writing program. Recently she was chosen to write for an online publication called, Her Campus, a magazine that covers a wide variety of subjects about college life for and about women. Over the years, students who have written for this online magazine have gone on to write for well-known publications.

Monroe loves to read and write. She is thriving at her chosen college. Though she may not know precisely where her life path is leading, she does knows where she came from and is very grateful to her community, which has helped sponsor her education.

“I probably wouldn’t have had the chance to do this if it were not for those who have made donations to the Boothbay Region Scholarship Fund. I am so appreciative, I would like to thank everyone for your help,” Monroe said.

This year, Monroe benefits from the A.R. and Marylouise Tandy Named Scholarship, which was established in 2012 by the A.R. and Marylouise Tandy Charitable Foundation.

Readers of the Boothbay Register will remember that for many years Marylouise Tandy Cowen was the publisher of the Register and generous supporter of causes in the Boothbay region. The Tandy Scholarship seeks to encourage students like Louise Monroe pursuing, perhaps, a career in writing/journalism.

The Boothbay Region Student Aid Fund always welcomes financial support. Contributions can be sent to P.O. Box 293, Boothbay Harbor, ME 04538.

For more information about the BRSAF, visit https://sites.google.com/site/boothbayregionstudentaidfund.