Hollis wins Mount Vernon Bank Writing Scholarship

Winning essay discusses BPC and community’s interdependency

(MVB Writing) Melissa Moore (far right) of Mount Vernon Bank presents the Mount Vernon Bank Writing Fellowship Award to Marla Hollis (center) as Dr. T. Ronald Melton (left), BPC Provost, looks on. (Photo by Raymond Minks)

By Kelley Arnold

Director of News & Public Information

MOUNT VERNON— Mount Vernon Bank representative Melissa Moore presented the Mount Vernon Bank Writing Fellowship Award to Brewton-Parker College junior Marla Hollis at the 2011 Honor’s Day Chapel Tuesday, May 3 in Saliba Chapel.

The fellowship includes a $1,000 cash prize. Essays were written on the topic of “The Economic Interdependency of Brewton-Parker College to the Local Community.”

Hollis’ winning essay is included below.

Hollis also received the Foreign Language Award during Honor’s Chapel.

Hollis, a Spanish major and psychology minor, is the daughter of Melvin and Ramona Hollis of Patterson. Hollis plans to become a translator for the government, specifically in foreign language, after graduation. She is the reigning Miss BPC, secretary of Fellowship of Christian Athletes, a member of Baptist Collegiate Ministries and women’s cross country team, resident assistant of Friendship Hall, women’s varsity basketball manager and a member of the International Standing Committee of Student Government Association.

The Economic Interdependency of Brewton-Parker College to the Local Community

By Marla Hollis

Mohandas Gandhi states that, “Interdependence is and ought to be as much as the ideal of man as self-sufficiency. Man is a social being.” Brewton-Parker College (BPC) has tremendous economic influence within the local community through the constant circulation of revenue as well as the abundance of well-educated graduates. Since interdependence is defined as a mutual and reciprocal relationship among entities such as objects, individuals and groups, in order for the college to sustain itself, those who attend, work, and visit must go beyond the campus boundaries.

Every year the college faculty, staff and students spend money in the community. As a result, money circulates throughout the local economy that can be utilized by businesses to produce beneficial goods and services. The complimentary relationship causes the local stores and establishments to make decisions involving merchandise, schedules and promotions based on the demand of the clientele. Businesses also thrive on the additional resources generated by visitors who are attracted to Brewton-Parker because of the college and the events held on its campus. The direct expenditures enable a “multiplier” effect to occur, where employees and businesses make indirect purchases after acquiring salaries and profits from the revenue gained by the initial purchases. The needs of both the local community and BPC are met through the correlative relationship shared, and one cannot function as effectively without the other.

The local economy also gains from the constant output of graduates who are prepared and experienced enough to enter the workforce. Skilled and well-educated individuals who graduate with a higher education are of great value to the community because they help to create competitive advantages. Businesses are operated, managed and made successful by those who have the necessary problem-solving skills and motivation to work diligently towards a common goal. Alumni and current students are employed in the community, which helps to encourage the college faculty and staff to become frequent customers and loyal patrons. Businesses value those who attend Brewton-Parker as a recruiting pool of quality candidates for seasonal part-time positions as well as for full-time positions after graduation.

Brewton-Parker College and the local community both benefit each other through increased expenditures as well as also through the prospects created by the graduates from the college. Local businesses receive revenue when purchases are made that is used to continue to provide for the wants and needs of those in the community and on the college campus. The economic interdependency of BPC to the local economy is the key to the success of the surrounding businesses. The integral relationship between the two is an undeniable fact and a way of life that will remain a necessary aspect in continual movement toward future productivity.

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