赖舍PG电子游戏计划为FLC学生打开成功之门
这个项目, which supports students who demonstrate academic and leadership potential as undergraduates, 将在明年秋天翻一番.
DURANGO— For 罗珊娜“罗茜”傻瓜头 and Veko Mapenzi the path to higher education was anything but certain.
傻瓜头, 奥格拉拉苏族部落的成员, 15岁时离开南达科他州, fleeing violence and extreme poverty at home to live with a friend’s family in Denver. She would spend three years navigating the challenges of the service industry before finding the support she needed to attend college. Veko, 另一方面, 12岁时逃离了他在刚果的家, spending his formative years in a refugee camp in Malawi before starting a new life in Denver.
The Denver Foundation’s 赖舍PG电子游戏计划 at Fort Lewis College helped them continue their education and attain a four-year college degree.
该项目为有经济需要的学生提供支持, who demonstrate academic and leadership potential as undergraduates. 学生 enter the program as rising sophomores attending one of the partner institutions or as transfer students from a community college entering the partner institution as juniors.
过去的一年, FLC有28名赖舍PG电子游戏, 明年秋天, 另有30名学生将报名参加该项目, 哪个机构提供奖学金和指导, 一个拥有敬业员工的支持性社区, 以及专业发展规划.
“Programs like the 赖舍PG电子游戏计划 are critical for students who need additional support,法夫·约翰斯顿说, FLC奖学金和特别项目助理主任. “杜兰戈的生活成本很高, and scholarships like this one help students manage those costs while also building a strong community on campus.”
“所有这些学生都有非常不同的背景, 但是赖舍把他们聚集到一个社区,她补充道。. “这是这个项目的特别之处.”
Last year, the 赖舍PG电子游戏计划 included financial literacy and networking workshops. Additional cohort activities focused on supporting student mental health and well-being – including group dinners and volunteering.
发现社区
罗茜傻瓜头, 工商管理专业的大四学生, 她说她的FLC之旅远非一帆风顺. She grew up in extreme poverty on the Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota, 有时没有食物和热水.
因为一个好朋友自杀了, 还希望逃离家里的虐待, she left the reservation at 15 to live with a friend’s family in Denver. The family helped her get a scholarship at a private school where she learned much but always felt she didn’t belong.
“暴力和不稳定是我成长过程中所知道的一切. 虽然我高中毕业了, 20岁出头的时候，我一直在自我毁灭, 经常聚会, 和错误的人群混在一起,她回忆道。. After graduating from high school, she enrolled in community college but soon after, she dropped out.
“其实我一开始就没打算上大学. 我的家人都没上过大学，”傻瓜头说. “我只是心理上还没有准备好. I was living all by myself, had no family near me, had no real income.”
After spending three years working in the service industry as a barista and later as a manager at a donut company, 她意识到自己的长期职业前景有限.
“很长一段时间，我都觉得自己被困住了，”她回忆道. 在伴侣的鼓励下, 迈克尔·狄龙, 傻瓜头决定在FLC接受高等教育, 利用印第安人学费减免政策.
而NATW涵盖了学生在FLC的学费, 它不提供住宿或其他学生费用. She discovered the 赖舍PG电子游戏计划 through the College’s online portal, 它已经改变了游戏规则.
“Being a part of Reisher helps lessen the financial burden for me and my partner,”她说。, adding the scholarship also introduced her to a community of like-minded students and supportive advisors.
傻瓜头 is now an active American Indigenous Business Leaders (AIBL) club member and appointed Community Chair of Fundraising. At FLC, she appreciates the solid native presence that has helped her reconnect with her culture.
Her long-term goal is to return to Pine Ridge and create businesses to help lift her community out of poverty. 她梦想建立一个专注于可持续旅游的度假胜地, 利用她的商业技能产生积极的影响.
“I'm in the process of forgiving my family and working to better my reservation by creating sustainable tourism to stimulate the economy,傻瓜头说.
从刚果到大学成功
Originally from Congo, Veko Mapenzi spent several years in a refugee camp in Malawi.
“这一点都不容易，因为这是一个营地. 人们在挣扎. 你什么都没有. Since I didn't know how to speak their language, I was 12, but they put me in third grade.”
Mapenzi, 谁的母语是斯瓦希里语, 他于2017年以难民身份移居美国, 和他的六个兄弟在丹佛定居下来. 他早年在美国生活.S. 是否面临重大挑战, including learning another language and adapting to a different educational system.
“很难交到朋友，因为我不懂英语. 当你不能和他们交谈时，你就不能交朋友. 整个第一年我都很挣扎, but I feel like I learned English fast because I was around people who spoke English all the time, 尽管我什么也没说，或者只是坐着听,他回忆道.
Despite the hurdles, Mapenzi excelled academically, graduating from high school with a GPA of 3.4 before enrolling at Aurora Community College, where he earned an associate degree in Business. 寻求更多机会, 马彭子上学期转到了FLC, drawn by the scholarship opportunities and the outdoor lifestyle Durango offers.
The Reisher Scholarship was pivotal in Mapenzi’s decision to attend FLC. The scholarship made his education financially feasible and provided a supportive community of fellow scholars.
“我们学习时间管理, 如何让对话继续, 以及如何不让别人感到尴尬,马彭兹说, adding these skills have been invaluable in helping him integrate into the FLC community and succeed academically. FLC也是一个他可以实践新发现的激情的地方.
“我在2019年接触了滑雪，并爱上了它. So that's one of the reasons why I chose Fort Lewis—it’s close to skiing.”
Mapenzi is majoring in Business Administration with a concentration in International Business and a minor in Entrepreneurship and Small Businesses. 他在FLC说, 他与来自不同背景的学生建立了友谊, 包括日本和法国, 丰富他的大学经历. “我在这里建立了一个非常大的社区，”他说.
更广泛的影响 赖舍PG电子游戏计划
由Reisher家族于2001年创立, 这个项目是以罗杰和玛格丽特·赖舍的名字命名的, who came from modest means and were the first in their families to attend and graduate from college.
该计划提供了39美元.3 million in scholarships to help nearly 2,500 students complete college in Colorado.
“The stories of 罗茜傻瓜头 and Veko Mapenzi highlight the transformative impact of the 赖舍PG电子游戏计划 at Fort Lewis College,梅丽莎·芒特说, 进步副总裁兼FLC基金会首席执行官. “这些奖学金不仅减轻了学生的经济负担, 帮助他们的目标是毕业时很少甚至没有债务, but the cohort framing also creates a nurturing environment that fosters academic and personal growth. We are thankful to have partners like The Denver Foundation that support our commitment to empowering students and shaping future leaders.”
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