Spence wins 2021 ESVA Chamber Young Professionals Scholarship

Victoria Spence, center, is presented with the 2020-2021 ESVA Chamber Young Professionals Scholarship in the amount of $600. Pictured with her are (l-r) Lynn Brankley, Young Professionals board member; Robert Sabatini, ESVA Chamber Executive Director; Will Russell, Young Professionals board member and Andrea Misner, Young Professionals Scholarship committee member.

Victoria Spence was the winner of this year’s ESVA Chamber Young Professionals Scholarship. Spence is a homeschool graduating senior with plans to attend Liberty University in the fall. She was awarded the check on Thursday afternoon at the Eastern Shore Radio studios in Accomac.

Part of Spence’s essay read “When you grow up on the Eastern Shore, you quickly learn how “everybody knows everybody”. While this may bother some people, it too, has been an advantage for me. When I was old enough to get a job, I walked into a local, small business where I was hired on the spot because the owner knew my family. The interesting thing is that working in this small, part-time job is what helped me decide to pursue a career in business. I have had the advantage of experiencing first-hand how a successful business operates and learning the many different facets of running a retail establishment.”

The ESVA Chamber’s Young Professionals is a group of working individuals under the age of 45 on the Eastern Shore who network together and go to the local high schools to discuss career opportunities on the Eastern Shore. The group holds the annual essay contest and asks local area high school students to write an essay on how growing up in a rural area helps prepare them for their future.