Excerpt from The Extension, Fall 2019
The WSU Retirees Association has awarded $1,500 WSURA Nick Davis Scholarships to three Wright State students for 2019-2020. Here are their stories.
My name is Lee Huntsberger, and I am in my senior year at Wright State. Linguistics has been my primary focus since high school. I have taken a myriad of courses in languages, including Ancient Greek and Latin as well as Spanish and even Chinese, which I study more in my free time. Outside the classroom, I am deeply involved in several campus organizations, including Sigma Phi Epsilon fraternity, Eta Sigma Phi Honorary Society, Classic Club and several others. I try to make the most of my college experience. I spend my days studying and my nights with friends. Eventually, I want to be a Classics professor and advance the study of the humanities in the next generation. I am also interested in serving as a bilingual technical producer for a private company and writing a book. I appreciate the Nick Davis Scholarship for helping me get closer to these goals.
Hello, I’m Hannah Davis. I want to start off by expressing my appreciation for your generous scholarship. I was very excited to learn that I was selected as a recipient. You have lightened my financial burden, which allows me to focus more on the most important aspect of continuing my education. Your generosity inspires me to work hard now, so I can one day help other students as well.
Wright State has always been a second home for me. Some of my best memories are running around campus during the summer camps and attending all the home basketball, soccer, and baseball games. I also wanted to follow my mom’s (Cathy Davis) legacy at Wright State. When it was time for me to choose a college, I never even considered anywhere but Wright State.
I am a Financial Service and Accounting major in my junior year. My plan is to become a financial advisor. I currently manage a full schedule of 18 credit hours and a position as an assistant at Ameriprise Financial. I started working there as an intern when I was sixteen. Ever since, I have become passionate about the importance of financial planning for everyone. Decisions students make now determine their financial success in the future; yet many people do not realize how critical these years are to a successful plan. I am excited for what this year brings academically, and all the activities Wright State offers as well. Your support has made this possible!
From Meghan Jenkins: I am currently finishing my senior year as a Biology/Biochemistry and Molecular Biology double major. I completed my Honors thesis on bacterial/viral co-infection last spring. I am currently working in a lab at WPAFB on producing new methods of replicating toxic lung exposures. Following graduation, I plan to work for a year and apply to medical school. My goal is to learn how to combine patient care and research into infectious diseases to produce better patient outcomes. I’ve also started playing violin again, and I plan to complete my first half marathon this autumn.
The Retirees’ Scholarship helps pay my tuition and allows me to avoid incurring debt before medical school, which is a huge relief. Being able to work and live near campus enables me to function better in both classes and research. My grandpa, Jeff Vernooy, who retired as head of the Office of Disability Services shortly before he died, always pushed me to consider science and find wonder in the natural world. Being able to study on a campus he helped to shape has been deeply meaningful to me, and I’m grateful to the Retiree’s Association for making that possible.
