Elation, relief and joy were just some of the emotions five students felt when they learned they had won the prestigious $25,000 Nicholl Scholarship .“I am studying nursing at Southern Adventist University in Collegedale, Tennessee,” said Reglindis Ratteray. “I hope to one day work in Bermuda clinics and with the Health Department. I was elated and relieved when I found out that I received the scholarship. I was relieved because this scholarship took the stress associated with finances from me. I am studying nursing because I’ve always felt the urge to help people and nursing seems to be the perfect career for that.”Stephen Nicholas Barton said he was thrilled to receive the scholarship which will allow him to pursue a bachelor of science degree in chemical engineering at Princeton University in New Jersey.“I know that I’m definitely going to follow my path right to the end,” he said. “Hopefully, it will culminate with some groundbreaking research. I was definitely glad to have won a scholarship. I knew that having been placed on the shortlist for an interview gave me a good chance and to be selected is a real honour. The Nicholl scholarship will allow me to attend one of the best institutions in the world and I plan to take full advantage of everything on offer at Princeton.”Other winners included Meliseanna Gibbons who will be working towards a doctor of medicine degree at St George’s University in Grenada, West Indies; Lara Loescher who will be studying dental surgery at the University of Bristol in the United Kingdom; Kaliane Marshall who will be studying medicine and surgery at King’s College London.“The quality of Bermuda’s youth continues to impress,” said Rick Spurling, a trustee for the Nicholl Scholarship. “Anyone getting a Nicholl Scholarship has to demonstrate superior academics, leadership, community work, character and achievements in sport, art, dance and/or music. In the last couple of years we are seeing CedarBridge students and Bermuda Institute students qualifying at this level. The scholarship is no longer dominated by the well-known top private schools. The scholarship is a true scholarship meaning that there is no means test. This year, notwithstanding dramatically increased pressure on our revenue, thanks to our HSBC investment team we were able to grant five $25,000 scholarships.”The scholarship is named for Albert E Nicholl. He came to the Island during the First World War as chief examination officer, Royal Navy Reserve, at St George’s. He was always interested in the education of young Bermudians, particularly those at Dellwood Primary School. The bulk of his estate was left in trust to provide scholarships to young Bermudians for education at accredited universities in the British Commonwealth and the United States of America.