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Top Student Wins Scholarship

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By BARBARA ROUTEN

Tribune correspondent

Published: June 4, 2008

TAMPA - The Edmund Sheffield Chapter Colonial Dames XVII Century announced at a meeting May 15 that Marissa Tweed, daughter of the Revs. Dave and Rita Gardner Tweed, is the winner of the chapter's 2007-08 Anne Massey General Scholarship. The meeting was held at the Palma Ceia Country Club in Tampa.
Colonial Dames XVII Century is dedicated to patriotic ideals and preserving the history of the colonial United States. It is an organization of women who can trace their lineage back to the American colonies.

Members of the local chapter assemble from as far away as Brooksville, Sun City Center, Brandon and Lithia.

The national organization and its state and local chapters grant various scholarships, including the Pocahontas Scholarship, which is awarded to people of Native American descent studying medicine. They also award a fellowship in historical editing at the College of William and Mary in Williamsburg, Va., and scholarships to outstanding engineering students at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, the U.S. Naval Academy and the U.S. Air Force Academy.

The Anne Massey scholarship is awarded based on financial need, grade-point average and extra-curricular activities. "Marissa met these requirements - plus, she has overcome a lot," said Ann Dunlap, a two-year member of the Edmund Sheffield chapter. "Marissa seems highly motivated. When asked about her goals for the future, she said, 'I thrive on planning.' She attended the IB international baccalaureate program at King High School."

In her freshman year of high school, Tweed often spent six hours a night studying for tests and reading paragraphs two or three times to comprehend them.

In her sophomore year, she was diagnosed with binocular vision dysfunction, "a genetic neuro-visual condition in which sensory stimuli do not reach the occipital lobe on a regular basis for accurate processing," Tweed said. Because BVD is hereditary, the rest of the family also was tested. Tweed, her parents and her sister were found to be affected.

"My eye doctor said my incredible grades a 6.32 weighted grade-point average were a product of Herculean effort, and that I shouldn't have to work that hard," Tweed said. "The solution was vision therapy."

After completing 14 months of neural integration and seven months of vision therapy, Tweed and her family are doing better. She said she "began perceptually processing faster and at a more efficient rate."

She can focus better and remember more, so her study time decreased. She stopped seeing double, so she can catch a ball, read music and perform pirouettes, which require a dancer to focus on a distant spot while her body spins.

"Binocular vision dysfunction is ... often misdiagnosed as Attention Deficit Disorder or Attention Deficit Hyperactive Disorder because sufferers have such a difficult time concentrating due to the amount of effort required to overcome vision problems," Tweed said in her scholarship essay, citing a 2000 study. "This results in difficulty focusing and leads to either overcompensation, as in my case, or under compensation - merely giving up."

Tweed expressed gratitude for the scholarship, and she could not contain her excitement and surprise when she found out her application will be sent on to the national level for consideration for an additional scholarship.

She plans to attend the University of Florida to study neurological biology and pursue a career as a visuo-neural psychiatrist.

"I want to use this knowledge to help children and others who suffer from similar learning disorders," she said.

'Tennis For Fun' Players Win at Special Olympics

TAMPA - Medals graced the necks of 22 athletes from the Brandon Tennis for Fun program after they competed March 15 in the Regional Special Olympics at the University of South Florida. Three competed in singles matches, and 19 competed in the tennis individual skills competition.

Participants were Celeste Castleman, Sarah Bowers, Kara Wireman, Kristen Wilkinson, Perin Irani, Jazmine Lopez, Taylor Wright, Alexis Councill, Sean Anderson, Ryan Rupp, Ian Hendrickson, Justin Carson, William Grow, Kim McFatter, Mary Slattery, Guillermo Rivera, Gage Whisenand, Jesse Hutches, Bryan Fisher, John Quinones, Nicholas Hensley and Ryan Fisher.

The eight-year-old Tennis for Fun program, founded by Nathan Moore and directed by his mother, Judy Moore of Brandon, gives athletes with special needs a chance to learn basic skills and socialize while having fun playing tennis. Volunteers coach and contribute equipment.

The Brandon Sports and Aquatic Center donates court time for the free clinics, which are held from 4 to 5 and 5 to 6 p.m. Fridays, November through April.

For information, call Judy Moore at (813) 685-3923 or (813) 417-3751, or go to www.tennisforfun.org.

Send news and photos of community interest to Barbara Routen at The Tampa Tribune, 505 W. Robertson St., Brandon FL 33511, call (813) 657-4531 or e-mail neighbors@tampabay.rr.com.

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