[W]e are proud to announce the six finalists for the 2015 JustJobs Scholarship award, which include engineers, educators, business professionals and dietitians. We received thousands of exceptional applications, but we feel that these candidates showed the best combination of passion, integrity, and dedication to their chosen fields of study.
Now we need your help in choosing the one scholarship award winner! The final selection process will involve three different factors:
- outside voting (Facebook ‘Like’ and other social media options on the left side of the essays)
- comments left by visitors
- the JustJobs Scholarship committee’s scoring of the student’s application and essay
The one winner will be announced on Tuesday June 30th. Please help us with our selection by voting for your favorite essay (Facebook ‘Like’ and other social media sharing options on the left side of the essays) and by leaving comments or clicking the ‘star’ icon above the comments section.
Jordan Bendler, Mechanical Engineering, University of Maryland
As a child, I was always taking things apart to see how they worked. If my parents gave me something that moved or had a battery, odds are I would end up taking it apart within a month. If I wasn’t taking something apart, I was watching a documentary about how things were put together. As I made my way to the end of my middle school days, I started building model houses out of cardboard boxes and just about anything else I could find around the house. It was a small hobby to start, but soon I started putting a lot of detail and design into the houses. I knew then that I loved building and problem solving.
Taylor Green, Technology and Innovation and Education, Harvard University
Choosing the Technology, Innovation, and Education (T.I.E.) program felt like a great fit for my desire to educate and my experience working in a technology company that is craving for diversity and qualified individuals. I have recognized that technology is not the solution to all of the world’s problems as it relates to education, but the innovation of education has technology at its core.
John Kim, Business, Northwestern University
Having experience working in emergency medical services and a regional public health department, I was exposed to various deficiencies within the healthcare system. In addition, my mother’s failing kidneys and her sitting behind a near endless stream of other eagerly waiting renal failure patients allowed me to observe, firsthand, a problem with the core belief of American healthcare—that is, people are convinced that they need to fight death.
Morgan Kleissler, Industrial Engineering, Iowa State University
My parents have been pushing me toward the engineering field since I was a child. They sent me to summer engineering camps, signed me up for youth engineering courses, and even coaxed me into taking an engineering design course in high school. I always pushed back. I had no interest in pursuing a field so dominated by men. It wasn’t until college, however, that I realized why they pushed me. Not only did engineering fit my proud-to-be-nerdy personality but by pursuing a field so untouched by other women, I have a great opportunity to show myself and other people that everyone can be intellectually competitive.
My parents have been pushing me toward the engineering field since I was a child. They sent me to summer engineering camps, signed me up for youth engineering courses, and even coaxed me into taking an engineering design course in high school. I always pushed back. I had no interest in pursuing a field so dominated by men. It wasn’t until college, however, that I realized why they pushed me. Not only did engineering fit my proud-to-be-nerdy personality but by pursuing a field so untouched by other women, I have a great opportunity to show myself and other people that everyone can be intellectually competitive.Brit’ney McTush, Integrated Marketing Communications, Northwestern University
Katie Vittal, Nutrition, Benedictine University
Ever since I was a little girl, I have been fascinated with health and fitness. At the tender age of eight, one of my greatest pleasures was waking up early before school and working out with the fitness shows on television. Yes, I was a strange child, but a passionate one. As I grew older, I learned that nutrition is the foundation of our health. We must build a strong foundation if we want our bodies to be sturdy and strong. I have spent years reading about nutrition and developing a love for the art of eating well.
