Positivity: Waiter’s flawless service is rewarded; Receives a full scholarship from Endicott College
February 4, 2008
BEVERLY - A full scholarship to a $34,000-a-year private college for a waiter? Now that’s a tip.Two years ago, Marvin Burchall was working the lunch shift at a luxury beachside hotel in his native Bermuda when he waited on an administrator from Endicott College, just north of Boston. To him, Lynn Bak was just another customer, another tourist visiting the island getaway. But Burchall’s service was impeccable, and his attentiveness and amiable manner caught Bak’s eye.
Bak, who coordinates Endicott’s School of International Education in Bermuda and stays at the Elbow Beach Bermuda resort every three weeks or so, gradually got to know Burchall, a 23-year-old who had dropped out of college during his sophomore year to work at the hotel.
The better she knew him, the more she was struck by his poise and potential, and she eventually recommended him to Endicott president Richard Wylie as an excellent candidate for Endicott. In October, Wylie wound up sitting in Burchall’s section while in Bermuda for a graduation ceremony and was similarly impressed. In short order, Endicott offered Burchall a full, four-year scholarship, room and board included, which he eagerly accepted on the spot.
“How could I say no?” Burchall said of the highly unusual offer on his first day of classes last week at Endicott, where he plans to study hotel management. “I knew this was a once-in-a-lifetime chance for me. I knew I had to take this and run.”
Burchall, an outgoing, well-met sort, said he is deeply grateful for the college’s belief in him and said he continues to be stunned by the random chain of events that changed the course of his life. …..
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