Five Bluffton University students are gaining exposure to their planned future careers with the aid of Professional Enrichment Grants from the university's Women's Council.

Ranging up to $300, the grants are helping with expenses related to two upcoming conferences and, for junior Stephanie Patterson, a trip to New York City last week that included a piano performance by her and three other Bluffton students in Steinway Hall.

Patterson, from Findlay, Ohio, is majoring in music education with concentrations in piano pedagogy and performance studies. While in New York, she and the Bluffton contingent also toured the Steinway & Sons factory, among other stops.

The other grant recipients are seniors Elizabeth Brinkman of Columbus Grove, Ohio; Hanna Mattingly of Uniontown, Ohio; and Jennifer Krehbiel of Canton, Kan., along with junior Rachel Harris of Carey, Ohio.

Brinkman, majoring in religion with a youth ministries concentration; Mattingly, a youth ministry and recreation major; and Harris, a psychology major with a minor in youth ministry, are all attending the Youth Specialties National Youth Workers Convention Nov. 19-22 in Nashville, Tenn. A business administration major, Krehbiel is receiving financial support to attend the 2011 Mennonite Health Assembly next March in San Antonio, Texas.

The Women's Council awards Professional Enrichment Grants to female Bluffton students each year to help them gain experience in their chosen careers.