An Education is for a Lifetime
Success Stories....
Student A -
“My guiding philosophy in life is to do my best at what ever I do to represent my family, and the people of my reservation with pride and honor.”
This young man wrote on his scholarship application that his goal in life was to get a good job and be self-supporting. He has done that and much more. His family and the people of his reservation were indeed proud when he earned his Bachelors of Science degree in Computer Science.
He was awarded his Mark K. Ulmer Foundation scholarship in 1996 and just five years later he walk away from Montana Tech with his degree, a great education and unbounded opportunity.
It’s a significant accomplishment and one predicted by his high school math teacher. She said he would become a successful engineer if he could go to college. He just needed some financial help and some encouragement.
The Mark K. Ulmer Foundation gave him both, and today he is a Data Analyst for an oil pipeline inspection company, and is still making his family and people very proud.
Student B -
“I believe that I should be considered (for a scholarship) because of my dedication to others, my high goals, and my determination to get the job done.”
This young woman’s determination to get the job done was an attitude admired by the Mark K. Ulmer Foundation in 1994. The attitude helped her earn a scholarship but the remarkable showing of that determination earned her a college degree.
How determined was she? She started at the University of Colorado at Boulder in 1994 as an engineering student. Her heavy class-load took its toll, her grades slipped and s he withdrew from CU in the spring of 1996. Undaunted, she went back to CU with a more realistic and achievable course load. However, eventually she realized that her real passion was working with youth and changed her major to education.
In 1999, she transferred to the more affordable Montana State University in Billings, MT. Her determination was put to an even greater test when she married and gave birth to two sons, one in 1999 and one in 2001. What some would consider distractions, she saw as motivation and on she marched in pursuit of her college diploma.
In the spring of 2001, this determined young woman walked off the graduation stage with a Bachelor's of Science degree in Education with an emphasis in Mathematics and a minor in Social Studies. Today, she’s back in college and pursuing a Master’s Degree.
Student C -
“I am determined to accomplish what I believe in, profit by set backs, learn and do my best. I believe I can make a unique contribution to society and I am proud to be a Native American.”
How determined was this young man to graduate from college and succeed in a career? There were many tests to his fortitude and maybe the toughest came late in his freshman year in 1992. During the final two weeks of school, his cousin was murdered. He lost someone he considered a brother and the tragedy devastated him and his college career at Eastern Montana College.
He worked through his grief and began taking classes at a community college and completed his A.A. Degree in National Resource Management. Soon after, he was selected as the first Native American intern for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency in Washington, D.C. All was going well until more personal tragedy struck and the personal hardship took him from school.
He again went to work for the EPA, this time in the environmental policy field working with all tribes and pueblos in New Mexico, Oklahoma, Texas and Louisiana. The perseverance and the success he had on the job paid off gave him the confidence and desire to go back to school and earn the Business Degree he had always wanted. In May 2002 he became a college graduate. He is presently working on his MBA in International Business.
Life has not been a smooth road for this young Native American, but despite the detours he stayed focused and achieved the goals he always dreamed about and communicated to the Mark K. Ulmer Foundation in 1992. Today he has a family with three young daughters, and is a successful businessman with a great future ahead.
2009 Scholarship Winners
2010 Scholarship Winners
