Campus Connection

Scholarship offers student the flexibility for success

Receiving scholarships has lifted a weight off of UWL Junior Reed Powell. It has also lessened the load of medical bills. When most high school graduates were soaking up summer sun before their freshman year of college, Powell was entering the surgery room to remove a portion of his intestine. The procedure would help relieve intense pain he had managed throughout his senior year of high school. The recovery process the summer before his freshman year took money, time, hard work and endurance, but it was all worth it, says Powell. He says college requires that same kind of thing — money, time, hard work and endurance, but he also knows it is worth it. “It doesn’t matter what class it is, I put in 110 percent. I study my butt off. I go to office hours, and I know a lot of my professors on a first-name basis,” he says. He wants to do well in school because he knows this is his chance to acquire knowledge and skills. Classes have challenged him to work under pressure, communicate on teams, and carefully consider other’s perspectives. He has stepped out of his comfort zone in “Acting for Non-Majors.” He’s gleaned lessons from other’s business experiences like Joel Chilsen, Onalaska mayor and CBA senior lecturer, who teaches his “Principles of Marketing” class. Scholarship assistance has given him flexibility to get involved. So, Powell has put his financial knowledge to the test as finance chair for UWL’s chapter of American Marketing Association. He learned to manage junior golf tournaments across the state as a Wisconsin PGA intern. And more recently, he has earned a spot on Beta Gamma Sigma, the highest national recognition for a business student. Powell is motivated not only to get as much as he can out of college, but also to show scholarship donors like Joe Laux, ’89, that he is worth the investment. Powell received the $1,000 Laux Family Scholarship for the 2017-18 school year. “I hope I can return the favor by helping someone else some day,” says Powell.