Scholar profiles

Keeshawn Aleksuk

University of St. Thomas ’21, Business Administration and Real Estate Studies

Ciresi Walburn Foundation for Children Scholarship

“Student-faculty relationships are so much more emphasized at St. Thomas,” Aleksuk says, “which allows me to connect with the material, ask questions of the professor, and engage with my peers.”

Manuela Ponce

Concordia University, St. Paul ’19, Biology

U.S. Bank Foundation Scholarship

“I have four siblings and I’m the first person in my family to attend college,” Ponce says. “My parents are helping me pay for school, but having this scholarship has relieved a lot of our stress in figuring out how to cover the expenses.”

John Nguyen

St. Olaf College ’20, Vocal Music Education

Wenger Foundation Scholarship

Nguyen will long remember an interim class he took in music and social justice, which taught him, he says, an important lesson: “That music can be a means for social change.”

Mariam Sharpless

St. Catherine University ’20 Economics and Women and International Development with a Communications Studies minor

Securian Foundation Scholarship

“It’s the grants and aid, the scholarships like this one, that made college possible for me,” she says. “Thanks for giving me a chance.”

Kimberly Krattley

Concordia College, Moorhead ’20, Business with German minor

Phillips Scholars Program

Krattley wants donors to know that “their willingness to give is so appreciated by students like me. And someday, when I am in a position to do so, I will pay it forward because of people like them.”

Andre Griffin

Augsburg University ’19, Secondary education and history

Ciresi Walburn Foundation for Children Scholarship

“The scholarship helped me build momentum going into junior year.”

Brianna Fitzpatrick

Carleton College ’18, Math

Meslow First Generation Scholarship

“The scholarship allows me to focus on my academics and not have to worry as much about how I am going to afford the next semester’s tuition.”

Henry Ortiz

Hamline University ’19, Marketing

Xcel Energy Scholarship

“My mom and dad always instilled the significance of education in me, and I needed to go because they couldn’t.”

Natalie Lawrence

Bethel University ’20, Accounting

Horton Global Scholars Program

“Immersion in a new culture showed me the value of the world beyond.”

Jonathan Yang

Gustavus Adolphus College ’20, Management and Japanese Studies

Wells Fargo Foundation Minnesota Scholarship

“The Wells Fargo Scholarship helped alleviate the cost burden on my family.”

Alexa Alfred

Bethany Lutheran College ’18, Biology

Xcel Energy Scholarship

“Between tutoring, my work study and labs, I had to learn new ways to organize my time.”

Larry Phiravanh

Minneapolis College of Art and Design ’19, Web and Multimedia

UPS Foundation Scholarship

“I would love to work in a field that allows me to show my creative side to the tech world.”

Austin Lorch

University of St. Thomas ’18, Mechanical Engineering

Graco Foundation Scholarship

“As a lawyer in this field, you need to know how the product was designed and how it works at its deepest level, and then turn that into words — to write about it and protect it from other companies stealing it.”