Two Lawrence County students have joined an elite club.

Kristen Berry of Proctorville and Anna Keffer of South Point have been chosen as part of the newest class of Yeager Scholars at Marshall University.

Anna Keffer said she will be majoring in nursing. She plans to have a career as a nurse anesthetist. Keffer will graduate from South Point High School and is very excited about the opportunity.

"I am very honored, and very humbled by it," Keffer said. "I didn't do it alone. I had a lot of support and help from my family and my school."

Keffer said she was at school when her mother called and told her that she had been chosen. She said she was very excited and "on cloud nine for about a week."

Kristen Berry will have a double major in biology and theology. She plans to be an orthodontist. She will graduate from Fairland High School and said she is looking forward to the experience.

"I'm really excited, the whole experience was really humbling," she said. "To be selected among such a group of intelligent people is such an honor."

Berry said she is looking forward to spending time with the other Yeager scholars. She said learning about the other scholars backgrounds and cultures should be an interesting experience.

"I'm really excited to get started with my education," Berry said.

The program is named for U.S. Air Force Brigadier General (Ret.) Charles E. "Chuck" Yeager. Yeager became the first supersonic pilot by breaking the sound barrier in a BellX-1 experimental aircraft in California in 1947.

Students must meet strict certain criteria and participate in the interview process. After they have received the scholarship, they must maintain a 3.5 GPA and voluntarily participate in campus activities.

"I'm looking forward to working with these outstanding students," said Dr. Edwina Pendarvis, interim executive director of Marshall's John R. Hall Center for Academic Excellence. "Every year brings a new group of Yeager Scholars with a new array of talents and interests."