Honoring the Life of Linda Osuorji
Dear BCS Community,
As we continue to support and serve our 127 active scholars this Spring, we are slowly healing.
As some of you may know, we lost our beloved Linda Osuorji, a College Success Manager, in December 2022. Linda had been with the organization since 2017. She served our Bachelor’s Degree scholars, and managed our mentor program, recruiting, interviewing, and selecting community members to walk alongside our scholars during their college journey. We are a small team and have been feeling this loss deeply, as have the scholars who knew Linda. Fortunately, we have had the opportunity to celebrate her time with us as a staff and board in December, with her family at their beautiful ceremony in January, and with our mentors and scholars in February. We continue our work in Linda’s spirit and keep her passion and dedication with us as we move forward. Also, we are creating a memorial scholarship in her name that will support a scholar throughout college.
We thank you for all of the love and care you have provided BCS and know that you will help us keep Linda close to our hearts and minds and we continue to work with the scholars she deeply cared for and loved.
Sincerely,
The BCS Team
SaVannah Hudson
Terrance Powell
Sherry Smith
Colleen Sparks
Lynn Walker
In Memoriam of Linda Osuorji
The Collective Remembrances of Berkeley Community Scholars Staff, Mentors, Scholars, and Board Members. (2/25/23)
She was a light in the world and always smiling,
She taught me much in a short time,
An amazing force, a raging star
Who advocated for students throughout her illness.
Surprisingly competitive during game nights,
She was my go-to,
A cool cat.
Played Jenga and the first time I ever lost,
Twice now, 2:0 against me,
Always seeing her made my day better.
Without her I would have dropped out of college,
They gave me a path to focus,
How do we do this without Linda?
Our own internalized Linda, asking the next question,
Dogged determination to make an impact in the lives of our students,
A remarkable smile, a fierceness of love, determination, and passion,
Made me the person who could be a good mentor, a non-judgmental supportive person, A guard at the gates,
A joy to see such a level of passion protecting the community,
Really insisting I share my best self with my mentee,
Opening myself to this experience,
A hole in my life, a giant cavern.
Three-way texts,
She has so many people who respected her and cared for her.
Let’s create a memorial walk, healing ourselves.
Me and Linda had a close relationship ever since I started, being adamant to turn my application in,
Always smiling to tell me she was there,
Always gave the energy that she saw my best,
It’s hard to reach the finish line,
A blessing and an honor to know her.
I love you immensely and am deeply saddened to lose you.
Motivated to know she is always routing for all of us.
Read the Full Remembrance