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Two PAC-10 Student Athletes Awarded "Living The Dream" Scholarships
From World Financial Group

Scholarships to be presented to UCLA's Kantola and California's Pollard by WFG President Jack D. Linder at Pac-10 Tournament semi-final game March 13

Wednesday, March 10, 2009

[Duluth, Ga.]—World Financial Group President Jack D. Linder will present UCLA's Ingrid Kantola and California's Justin Pollard with the Pac-10 Conference's "Living the Dream" Scholarship, presented by World Financial Group, during the 2009 Pacific Life Pac-10 Tournament's 8:30 p.m. men's semi-final game on March 13, 2009, at Los Angeles' Staples Center.

2009 marks the second year World Financial Group has sponsored the Pac-10 Conference and partnered with the Pacific-10 Conference and Pac-10 Properties to present the "Living the Dream" scholarship, designed to recognize student-athletes who have served on their institutional Student-Athlete Advisory Committees (SAAC) and demonstrated leadership. The "Living the Dream" scholarship is a Pac-10 Leadership Award of $5,000 for postgraduate study given to one male and one female student-athlete each year.

"Sending children to college is one of the many dreams World Financial Group helps clients work toward every day," said WFG President Jack D. Linder. "World Financial Group is honored to help outstanding student-athletes like Ms. Kantola and Mr. Pollard pursue their dreams through post-graduate study."

Kantola, a native of Los Angeles, was a member of the Bruins' track & field teams every year, captaining the squad as a senior. She was a Pac-10 Champion in 2008, earning All-American honors during the 2007 indoor and the 2007 outdoor campaigns. Kantola has garnered the Team Bench and Florence Joyner Award in 2007. A two-time Pac-10 All-Academic Honorable Mention selection, she has been named to the Athletic Directors Honor Roll in 2005, 2007 and 2008. Kantola is a sports management major with a 3.22 GPA and is expected to graduate in July 2009.

Kantola served on the Bruin Athletic Council for four years, organizing community events such as the fall clothing drive in 2008, while volunteering for the Marathon Kids Day, Mattel Children's Hospital's holiday parties and the University elementary School Jog-A-thon, where she was also asked to speak at the event. Under her leadership, the Bruins hosted Special Olympians at a UCLA volleyball game. She was a member of UCLA's Ambassador Program and a Wooden Academy participant.

Pollard, a native of San Jose, Calif., is a four-year member of Cal's swimming team, and was a co-captain as a senior. He competed at the 2008 Olympic and 2006 Summer World Championship trials. In 2007, he earned the Golden Bear Award for the most improved team member and helped Cal twice place fourth at the NCAA Championships, and was second in the Pac-10 Swimming and Diving Championships every year. A three-time Pac-10 All-Academic first team honoree, he was the recipient of the Neufeld Scholar-Athlete Award, given to the graduating male and female student-athlete with the highest cumulative averages. Pollard is an economics major with a 3.93 GPA and is expected to graduate in May 2009.

Pollard's leadership activities include serving as Pac-10 SAAC Co-Chair in 2007-08 and currently the Pac-10 representative to the NCAA's SAAC. He has received Cal's Walter A. Haas, Jr. Community Service Award in 2008, organizing and participating in various outreach events, including College Sports Day (an event for local youth to interact with Cal athletes to promote college education and a healthy lifestyle), serving as a referee for Special Olympics of Northern California, and helping to clean transitional housing in San Francisco.

The "Living the Dream" scholarship winner is selected by the Pac-10 Conference SAAC, which is composed of representatives from member institutions and nominations submitted yearly by each campus SAAC. To be eligible, nominees must have completed their athletics eligibility, be enrolled or plan to attend graduate school, have been a letter winner in a varsity sport and have served a minimum one year on the campus SAAC.

About World Financial Group, Inc.
World Financial Group, Inc. (WFG) is a financial services marketing company whose affiliates offer life insurance and a broad array of financial products and services. Driven by its mission to create financially independent families positioned to realize their dreams, WFG's independent associates strive to help individuals and families who are often overlooked by the financial services industry to plan for their financial futures and work toward their goals. With agreements with several of the financial and insurance industries' leading companies, WFG advocates the power of choice for its clients.

World Financial Group, Inc. is an AEGON company. AEGON is an international life insurance, pension and investment group based in The Hague, The Netherlands, with businesses in over twenty markets in the Americas, Europe and Asia.

Headquarters: 11315 Johns Creek Parkway, Duluth, GA 30097-1517, PO Box 100035, Duluth, GA 30096-9403. Phone: 770.453.9300. For more information, visit WFG's website at www.WorldFinancialGroup.com

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