Recipients of $110,000 in scholarship money from Butterfield Bank had six words in response: "thank you, thank you, thank you."

Six students received funds for continuing education from the bank at a special reception held on Thursday.

"I am ecstatic," said Jenea Scott, 35, the winner of the 2010 Butterfield Visual Art Award.

She will be entering the Pratt Institute in New York to obtain a master's of professional studies in art therapy.

"I couldn't even express how I was feeling when [Butterfield Bank] called to tell me that I had won a scholarship," said Miss Scott. "As I was driving, I just kept saying 'thank you, thank you, thank you'."

Kimberly Davies, 25, was Butterfield's 2010 Sir A. Dudley Spurling Postgraduate Scholar.

She is in her second year of studies in the United Kingdom, pursuing a bachelor's degree in medicine and surgery. She already has a bachelor of science degree from McGill University. She had similar words for Butterfield Bank.

"I am so grateful," she said. "I have been fortunate that my parents have funded me through secondary school.

"I had a scholarship to help me attend McGill University in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, and a scholarship last year to pay for my first year at Newcastle University in the United Kingdom," she said.

"I felt that I have been diving into my parents' savings and their retirement fund for so long, that I said 'enough is enough'."

She said if she hadn't gotten a scholarship, she would have taken out a student loan.

"So it has been a huge relief," she said.

Both Miss Scott and Miss Davies are interested in helping to heal their community, albeit in different ways.

Miss Scott defined art therapy as "a field in which art is used as a tool to provide services for mental and physical health".

"My ultimate goal is to work with children who are developmentally delayed," she said. "Initially, when I come out of school I hope to work with them for about five years.

"Then, I hope to take it to the broader community. I would like to work within the school system, and work with troubled teens and adults."

As an undergraduate, she felt a certain restlessness while working towards her bachelor of science degree in psychology at Georgia State University.

"I was constantly switching my major," she said. "I had to look at what my interests and strengths were.

"I came across art therapy and it has been in my heart ever since."

After obtaining her bachelor's degree she mostly worked in the human services field.

"I have seen how art therapy could be applied to almost every job I have worked at," she said.

"I didn't go back to school for a lot of different reasons. I was holding myself back. It wasn't that I didn't believe in myself, but I didn't apply myself to it. I took my time."

She said it would be interesting going back to school at the age of 35.

"I am really excited about it," she said.

Miss Davies said she had chosen to study medicine because, unlike any other profession, "medicine combines the application of scientific knowledge with the chance to make a difference".

She said she would like to eventually specialise in dermatology or endocrinology.

"But I haven't completely made up my mind," she said. "I think I will make up my mind in the clinical years.

"I used to suffer from skin conditions when I was younger. I still do on my hands and my feet."

She said not only could she relate to dermatology patients, but she also recognised the huge social impact that skin conditions could have on people's lives.

"Depending on how bad the skin condition is, it can have occupational restrictions," she said.

"Skin conditions are actually very prevalent. They say about a third of the population at any one time suffers from skin conditions ranging from minor things to skin cancer."

She said there is such a wide variety of skin conditions that she had the opportunity to sub-specialise.

"I could do surgery to remove skin cancers, for example," she said.

Miss Davies also said she had an interest in diabetes a huge problem in Bermuda.

"So if I study endocrinology, there is the potential to come back to Bermuda and do good in the field," she said.

Butterfield's president and chief executive officer Bradford Kopp said the bank believed heavily in making a valuable contribution to the community.

"As Bermuda's own bank, it is important that we continue to give back to the community that has supported us for 152 years," Mr. Kopp said. "As these young people return home with new skills, the gift of Butterfield's undergraduate and postgraduate scholarships, our two overseas education bursaries and our two visual art awards will translate into investments directly in the future leadership of Bermuda."

Other recipients included the 2010 Sir Harry D. Butterfield Undergraduate scholar, Stephanie Hollis-Smith.

Miss Hollis-Smith is currently studying biomedical sciences at Queen Mary University of London and intends to pursue pediatric medicine at a graduate level when she graduates in 2011.

One of Butterfield's 2010 overseas education bursary recipients is Teniko Eve.

Mr. Eve recently completed his freshman year at St. John's University in New York where he is majoring in risk management and business.

In the future, Mr. Eve plans to pursue a career in risk management insurance, as well as start his own business.

Another 2010 Butterfield overseas education bursary recipient was Kimberley Fisher.

Miss Fisher is majoring in business administration and international studies with a concentration in marketing at North Carolina State University. She is entering her junior year and hopes to work in international business at the completion of her studies.

And it was second time lucky for the recipient of Butterfield's second 2010 visual art award, Chiara Lombardi.

In 2009, Miss Lombardi graduated with honours from Mount Saint Agnes Academy and recently completed a year of studies in interior design at Dundee College in Scotland.

This autumn, she will begin studying architecture at De Montfort University in the United Kingdom.