A Brenau nursing student was selected as the 2026 Sarah Helen Killgore Scholarship recipient by the Georgia Association of Nurse Educators in February.
Dinah Hamilton is a senior in the accelerated BSN program in the Mary Inez Grindle School of Nursing. She was one of three scholarship winners statewide this year.
“I’m really proud of myself, I’ve worked really hard and had a lot of challenges after starting the nursing program,” Hamilton said. “Through it all, I kept going because I wanted my kids to see me succeed and know that with determination and hard work, anything is possible. I’m also incredibly grateful for the opportunity, mentorship and support I’ve received here at Brenau.”
Hamilton’s interest in nursing began when she started working in schools after the pandemic, and she worked with students with special health needs. She discovered she loved working with and caring for children, and wanted to become a school nurse.
“I am a survivor of intimate partner violence, and I think there could be a bridge between school counseling and school nursing,” Hamilton said. “My end goal would be to develop some type of program to help kids stop the cycle before it even starts, and teach kids their worth, how they should be treated and what’s normal.”
As she works toward her goal, Hamilton wants to earn her Sexual Assualt Nurse Examiner certification to work with patients who have experienced sexual assault and domestic violence, which she can earn after two years of professional nursing. She is also beginning her volunteer training with Bridging Hope Georgia, a nonprofit that provides services and advocacy for survivors of sexual assault.
Hamilton has made the Dean’s List every semester while completing the ABSN program and will graduate in May. Hamilton also has a potential school nursing opportunity to work one-on-one with students who have severe and complex disabilities.
The GANE Conference was held on Feb. 14 at Lake Oconee. Hamilton was recognized there with her two sons and Brenau faculty members Megan McDowell, DNP, and Melissa Huffstetler, Ed.D., in attendance.
“It was wonderful to see Dinah win this scholarship. We were very excited to see one of our own win this competitive scholarship,” Huffstetler said. “As far as I know, we have not had a Brenau student win before.”
The Sarah Helen Killgore Scholarship was named after a Georgia nurse who was committed to her profession for more than 45 years. During her career, she also was the director of the Piedmont Hospital School of Nursing from 1965 to 1983, and earned two nursing degrees and her Ph.D. in higher education. The scholarship was established in 1991 to honor her contributions to nursing, as well as to acknowledge future nurses who are committed to excellence in nursing. Killgore died in 2021 at the age of 91.
