toledoblade.com -- 'Got milk' scholarship toasts Bedford student's health

LAMBERTVILLE - Bedford High School senior Aloiya Earl took the idea that calcium-rich milk could help her recover more quickly from a bone injury and ran with it.

During her junior year running cross country in the fall of 2006, Miss Earl developed a bone tumor in her tibia. After undergoing surgery, Miss Earl decided drinking more milk would aid in her recovery.

"After the surgery I drank five glasses of milk a day," she said. "I had to have a lot of calcium and I got it through milk. I recovered faster than the doctor had expected. I think [milk] is what helped."

Miss Earl submitted an essay detailing her rehabilitation for a college scholarship offered by the National Milk Mustache "got milk?" Campaign.

Recently, Miss Earl learned that she was a recipient of the 2008 Scholar Athlete Milk Mustache of the Year (SAMMY) Award. Miss Earl is one of only 25 high school students selected from a record-breaking 65,000 applicants. Miss Earl, who graduated from Bedford last month, was awarded a $7,500 scholarship.

"I was shocked," Miss Earl said. "I was really excited to get the honor and to win it."

Miss Earl, who is a three-sport athlete from Lambertville, was Bedford's salutatorian. She was ranked second in her class with a 4.49 grade point average. She will attend the University of South Carolina.

The winners of the SAMMY award are top-notch performers in academics, athletics, community service, and leadership, according to Kurt Graetzer, chief executive officer of the National Milk Mustache "got milk?" Campaign.

"We are so excited to be able to recognize students like Aloiya and reward exceptional teens like her who work hard in the classroom and their communities, while staying active and making healthy lifestyle choices, like including milk in their daily routine," Mr. Graetzer said.

Miss Earl will join figure skater Michelle Kwan and former NBA player and coach Avery Johnson for an award ceremony and induction into the SAMMY Hall of Fame at Disney's Wide World of Sports in Florida tomorrow through Sunday.

"I'm really excited," Miss Earl said. "I've never been there, so it should be really fun."

Her photo also will appear in USA Today tomorrow in a special-edition Milk Mustache ad.

Miss Earl said she discovered the scholarship contest while browsing the Internet.

"I saw an advertisement for the athletic and academic scholarship award and all through high school I've been very involved with both," Miss Earl said.

She also said part of the contest involved writing an essay about the benefits of milk.

"I thought I had a good story about how milk affected my life," Miss Earl said.

Miss Earl was just 16 at the time she developed the bone tumor in her tibia. Her doctor informed her that there was a slight chance that the tumor would be cancerous.

"It happened so fast, I did not have much time to think about it," Miss Earl said. "He told me there was a really low chance - maybe 5 percent - that it was cancerous.

"It just grew like any other tumor. There was a lot of swelling. At first I thought it was a running injury," she said.

Miss Earl went to a specialist at the University of Michigan hospital and was told the tumor was benign.

Still, Miss Earl had to have surgery to remove it and then had a bone graft.

"The surgery took about two and a half hours," Miss Earl said. "There was a hole in the bone where it was. They took a bone graft from a donor and packed it in there."

Miss Earl stayed in the hospital that night. She was in a wheelchair before moving to crutches during her rehabilitation.

"It was six or seven months before I could run again," she said. "I had to go through a lot of physical therapy."

Miss Earl said her doctor told her consuming an increased amount of calcium might help her recovery.

"I really think it helped a lot," she said.

Miss Earl participated in volleyball, track, and cross country at Bedford. She said her best sport has been cross country. She began running in the sixth grade.

Unfortunately, Miss Earl had to sit out her junior year because of the leg tumor. She then missed her senior season with a stress fracture in her leg.

Miss Earl said the athletic accomplishment she is most proud of was earning all-state academic honors as a sophomore in cross country. She had a 4.0 grade-point average and placed 50th in the Division 1 state meet. She has received numerous All-Southeastern Conference honors in cross country and track.

In addition to being ranked in the top 1 percent of her class, Miss Earl was president of the National Honor Society and editor-in-chief of the high school newspaper.

Miss Earl also said she is a worship reader for her church, CrossRoads Community Church in Ottawa Lake. She is a member of the Youth Advisory Council and participates in community service projects such as food and blood drives, and the Relay for Life.

In 2006, Perrysburg High School senior Ronnie Tisdale, an all-league performer in football, wrestling, and track, earned a scholarship and a spot in the National Milk Mustache "got milk?" Campaign ad.

The campaign is a multifaceted education program focused on the health benefits of milk managed by the Milk Processor Education Program in Washington, D.C.

Miss Earl said she plans to compete on both the cross country and track teams at South Carolina.

"Right now, I'm cross training," Miss Earl said. "I'm looking forward to August when I can start running cross country again."

Miss Earl said she plans to study exercise science in a pre-med program and eventually become a pediatric orthopedic physician specializing in sports medicine.

"South Carolina has one of the best programs in the nation for exercise science," Miss Earl said.

She said she wants to be a pediatric orthopedic doctor so she can help young athletes overcome similar injuries.

Miss Earl said she also earned a partial academic scholarship from South Carolina and landed another locally sponsored scholarship. "But this is a big one," she said.

Contact Mark Monroe at: mmonroe@theblade.com
or 419-304-4760.

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