She held onto that dream as her life took a downward spiral - a heart condition, diabetes, high cholesterol and a knee operation.

"I was one of those persons who would work any kind of shift," Matthews said. "If needed, I would work the late shift and then come right back on the regular day shift."

She received a GED at age 53. While she was on medical disability, she said, someone told her she should go to college.

She did it with financial help from the Ohio Bureau of Rehabilitation and the Job Training Partnership Act (JTPA).

After a stroke and a second knee operation, the 65-year-old, divorced, Northside mother of six received a bachelor's degree in social work in June from the University of Cincinnati.

She works for Toward Independence Inc., Springdale, a supported-living agency.

"I work with people with physical problems and the elderly, assisting them on how to get back to independent living," she said.

Arts center elections

Two prominent business people have been elected to the Contemporary Arts Center Board of Trustees. They are Otto M. Budig Jr., president of Budco Group Inc., and James A Miller, president and chief executive officer of Bartlett & Co.

Budig was elected by the CAC board as its new president, while Miller becomes the new board treasurer.

Both were already trustees. Budig was a member of the Contemporary Cincinnati Campaign cabinet and active as a solicitor.

Miller has served on the finance, fine arts fund, planned giving, sponsorship and executive committees.

Joe Hale, chairman of the CAC board, said that the two, along with other newly elected board members, will provide a strong foundation of support for the arts center's new building. The center moved to its new downtown location, the Lois & Richard Rosenthal Center, at 44 E. Sixth St., in May.

Agency receives award

The Senior Independence has been given the 2003 Excellence in Practice Award for serving 40,000 people in 28 Ohio counties through wellness clinics, transportation, senior centers and adult day care.

The agency is a division of Ohio Presbyterian Retirement Services. The award was given by the American Association of Home and Services for the Aging.

Our kids: 3 scholarships won

Three members of the Pleasant Ridge Presbyterian Youth Church were awarded Werden-Sampson Family Scholarships. The awards, administered through the church, are given annually to deserving graduating high school seniors.

This year's recipients were Corinne Anderson, a graduate of Princeton High School, who is attending Ohio State University; Julie Hamann, a Mason High School graduate, who attends Miami University; and Tom McWhorter, a School for Creative and Performing Arts graduate, who attends Ohio State University, Newark.

Goshen grad succeeds

Goshen High School graduate Andrew Giesler was ranked eighth in the nation in the decathlon at the USA Track & Field national championships at Stanford University, Stanford, Calif. He then represented the USA at a track meet in Germany.

Student plays to Europe

Jessica Moore, a member of the Roger Bacon High School Band, was selected to play in the American Musical Ambassadors Band and performed on a tour of several European countries this summer.

She is the daughter of Theresa and Paul Moore of Winton Place.

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