JOHNSON CITY (December 14, 2012) – Kaitlyn Luckey-Smith, a student in the East Tennessee State University College of Nursing, has been awarded a Tylenol Future Care Scholarship. She is one of only 40 students nationwide chosen for the scholarship and the only recipient in Tennessee.

Luckey-Smith, who is pursuing a bachelor of science in nursing degree, received a grant of $5,000. A native of Clyde, N.C., she is scheduled to graduate in December 2013.

Future Care Scholarships are awarded each year by the McNeil Consumer Healthcare Division of McNeil-PPC Inc., makers of Tylenol. From applications submitted by students who are pursuing careers in health care, Tylenol chooses winners based on leadership qualities, academic performance and community involvement.

Luckey-Smith was already a paramedic when she enrolled in the ETSU nursing program to pursue her dream of becoming a flight nurse. She was completing a medical missions trip in Haiti this summer when a phone call came in from her mother.

Expecting fierce competition for the Tylenol grants, Luckey-Smith was not anticipating the call to be one that informed her she was a scholarship winner. She later discovered the company considered approximately 25,000 applicants.

“It’s expensive to call in Haiti, so I knew it had to be something important,” Luckey-Smith said. “She was calling to tell me I had won the Tylenol scholarship. It was very exciting. It’s hard for me to express in words my gratitude to Tylenol for the scholarship. The impact it will have on my education is immeasurable.”