The Bridget McElroy Memorial Scholarship is being established by her study abroad housemates - in coordination with the Advanced Studies in England (ASE) team - to honor the memory of the late Bridget McElroy, ASE Spring Class of 2007.

Bridget's cousin Kristin (ASE Spring '01 alumna) encouraged Bridget to participate in the program, and the 18 Northampton Street house was the better for it. The semester we spent living together in Bath forged lifelong friendships, with Bridget at the very heart. To know her was to love her - from the wisdom that went far beyond her years, to her easy laugh and endearing quirks. (The latter on full display when she returned from a trip to Cadbury World and locked her chocolate bars inside of a passport safe because she didn’t trust herself with them.)

That semester in Bath afforded Bridget - like so many of us - the opportunity to travel extensively, experience new cultures, and kickstart a life of adventure.

In the years that followed, Bridget showed us all what it meant to live a life of purpose. She dedicated her adulthood to teaching English as a second language in New York City, volunteered as a running guide for the blind, and ran marathons to raise money for guide dog charities. She had dreams of opening her own school one day.

More importantly, she showed us what it meant to be a good friend. Bridget was known for sending handwritten cards for every imaginable occasion and always seemed to know exactly what to say. She was, as our one housemate said, the very best of us.

In July 2020, one month before her 34th birthday, Bridget was diagnosed with uterine leiomyosarcoma, an extremely rare and aggressive soft tissue cancer. She spent the next 16 months undergoing relentless rounds of radiation, chemotherapy, surgeries, and clinical trials. On her worst days, she was the kind of person most of us would hope to be at our very best.

In October 2021, one month before she died, Bridget attended a poetry workshop in upstate New York. One day the class was given the prompt, “What do you want to say?” Bridget filled her notebook with words that have helped guide her friends and family through the past few years without her. Among them, “Feel and experience as much as you can during your one extraordinary, too short life. Do it for me, but mostly, do it for you.”

Bridget’s housemates are creating an ASE memorial scholarship in her name, in the hope that future ASE students will put this money toward experiencing as much as they can during their extraordinary semesters abroad.

Our intention is to offer this merit- and need-based scholarship indefinitely, and award it to students to assist in paying for travel and personal expenses during their time in Bath. We aim to award a £1,000 scholarship (roughly $1,335 in USD) to an ASE student each Autumn and Spring semester. However, the exact scholarship amount will depend on how much money we are able to raise.

If you feel so inclined to donate, we would be honored to put your money toward the Bridget McElroy Memorial Scholarship in honor of our dearest friend.

Thank you for your generosity!