Iman named Mitchell Scholar

AUBURN — The Mitchell Institute, a Maine-based nonprofit founded by Sen. George Mitchell to improve college outcomes for young Mainers, has named Ladan Iman a 2014 Mitchell Scholar. She recently entered her first year at Springfield College in Springfield, Mass.

One of five siblings from a single-parent household, Iman graduated from Edward Little High School with a GPA of 87.8. She played field hockey all four years of high school and has worked steadily since her sophomore year. Her favorite work experience has been at Pine Tree Camp, where she worked with children with physical and developmental disabilities.

A first-generation college student, Ladan plans to study physical therapy.

From Van Buren to Kittery, all the young men and women in the 2014 class of Mitchell Scholars have distinguished themselves through academic performance and community impact. Scholars face a range of obstacles to college access; two-thirds of Mitchell Scholars are the first in their families to earn bachelor’s degrees and 70 percent are from families with income below Maine’s median family income. Yet 85 percent of scholars complete college and achieve a degree, (compared with 53 percent nationally), and more than 90 percent earn all A’s and B’s in college.