Campaign News: Students First Scholarships Open Doors

Danielle Kaaland

Jordan Guffin

Luis Escamilla

Since the University of Washington launched the Students First scholarship initiative nearly a year and a half ago, more than 3,000 generous alumni and friends have invested in the future of our community by creating and contributing to Students First scholarship and fellowship endowments. These awards are now touching the lives of many UW students, who can focus more on their academic goals and less on how to pay for school.

UW freshman Danielle Kaaland, who was recently awarded a Students First scholarship, is already thinking about the day when she can create her own scholarship and help a future student in the same way she is being helped today.

"It was kind of one of those miracle stories. Someone from Sedro-Woolley found me and gave me a gift. I'd like to pay it forward and do the same when I'm older," says Kaaland, who comes from the same hometown as Phillip Crossman ('38), who created the Crossman Family Endowment for Sedro-Woolley High School in recognition of the scholarship he received when he came to the UW.

"I'm the first generation in my family to come to college, so just being here is a big deal," says Kaaland, who is considering majoring in business. She said the scholarship is incredibly helpful, especially to her mom. "She has to scramble to find the money on time. We just can't write a check." Kaaland is among the first students to receive need-based scholarships created through the Students First matching gift initiative.

"I feel very fortunate that people decided to create these scholarships," says Jordan Guffin, a secondyear student at the UW School of Medicine. "Medical school is kind of stressful and having these scholarships takes away some of the financial pressure, which ultimately helps with studying and getting through school," says Guffin, who receives three scholarships, including the Mari and David Clack Endowed Scholarship in honor of Clyde R. Jensen, M.D."

Guffin is still deciding what type of medicine he would like to pursue, but his interest in rural medicine was piqued this past summer when he worked at a clinic on the Crow Indian Reservation in southeastern Montana. "Every day I was learning something new. Near the end of the four weeks, I delivered my first baby," Guffin says.

UW junior Luis Escamilla, the recipient of a Students First Matching Challenge Endowed Scholarship, plans to become a high school teacher after he graduates. "There's a need for role models of color. I don't think there's a large enough representation among high school faculty, particularly of Latino males," Escamilla says. "Scholarships are so important. They're an investment in society."

Return to Spring 2008 Campaign Newsletter