Not to be boastful, but I received another scholarship today! Last January I was having a really hard time paying all of my school, rent, supplies and food bills, so I decided to research and apply for scholarships. I applied for many of the ones offered from the Design College at my school, but also others that were specific for architecture students. I never expected to receive any. Not to be a pessimist, but a lot of qualifying people apply for these scholarships. When I was applying for college my senior year of high school, I was also applying for scholarships… and I didn’t receive any. I have been kind of discouraged since then to try again. But as a student financing my own education, I have become desperate to find additional funds. So I spent all of my free time (conveniently between the hours of two and five a.m.) last semester applying for scholarships, and it has paid off.
I received two scholarships without even applying – the ISU Grant and the Academic Recognition Reward. These two are automatically given to you if you have a certain G.P.A., which goes to prove that grades actually do matter in college. I have received four others – the Catt College Scholarship, the Black Hawk County ISU Women’s Club Scholarship, the Masonry Institute of Iowa Scholarship, and the newest one – the NAWIC (National Association of Women in Construction) Scholarship.
Carrie Clinton Lane Chapman Catt was a student at ISU in 1877, and graduated at the top of her class in three years. She was the first woman student to give an oration before a debating society, and she went on to be the first woman superintendent in Mason City, Iowa. She was an activist for women’s suffrage and succeeded Susan B. Anthony as the president of the National American Woman Suffrage Association. Catt was a lobbyist for women’s right to vote and helped form the League of Women Voters. She helped form the Women’s Peace Party during WWI, was active in the League of Nations during WWII, and was an activist for a child-labor amendment to the Constitution. Basically, she was a wonderfully active woman. On our campus, Catt Hall houses philosophy and some political science offices. It is also a wonderful building, which I think is sadly falling apart. I actually applied for the Catt College scholarship through the general design office in the College of Design.
This year was the last year that the ISU Women’s Club of Black Hawk County gave a scholarship (Black Hawk County is the name of the county I am from in Iowa). They were founded in 1929 and were the only ISU Women’s club in Iowa until now. They are joining with the Iowa State University Alumni Association Club of Black Hawk County, so they will no longer be giving a women’s scholarship. It is kind of a political B.S. decision – the Alumni Association at ISU doesn’t want to give money to two clubs, so they made them join together. I attended an ISU Alumni Association in April to receive my reward, and met President Gregory Geoffroy. He thought he recognized me from a sorority – YEAH RIGHT!
The Masonry Institute of Iowa (MII) is an association to promote excellence in masonry and offer training and seminars to masons and members. I went on a field trip sponsored by the MII to Johnston, Iowa, when I was a sophomore. We toured a masonry manufacturing plant, and even constructed our own mini-masonry wall. I had so much fun on the trip that I decided I might as well apply for the scholarship.
NAWIC was founded in 1953 to promote a network between women in the construction industry. I think it is wonderful that organizations like this exist. Women are generally not encouraged to learn about construction. It is not unheard of to have Construction Engineering majors at ISU who are women, but it is also not common. Anything that is done to promote and encourage women about construction is very beneficial, especially to a woman architect. If an architect understands and follows construction techniques during the design process, then the design is more likely to be built to their specifications.
All in all, I have received $4500 in scholarship money. I am very grateful for all of it, especially since I am spending a semester in Rome this spring, and will be spending over three times what I normally spend for tuition and living expenses.
