I hope this card finds you well. I am busy teaching English at Liberton HS in Edinburgh (Scotland). It is a temporary post, but I expect to be here till Feb or March. I am still tutoring (night classes Spanish for The City of Edinburgh. The area where I work has been run down, but is being rebuilt. It (is) quite amazing what they are doing. We will be moving to a new school in August, and the whole area, called Muirhouse, is being torn down and rebuilt. The City is getting a new tram system. Princes Street is a nightmare as it is being dug up so they can lay tracks. It’s really going to change the look of the city. I am also tutoring Advanced English for Fife Council. I go to Dunfermline HS every Thursday night and discuss the delights of character analysis and the like. The bridge to Fife is now free, one of the pledges of the SNP during the elections) so I save a pound a trip. As you can see, your sponsorship money has gone to good use, and I am ever busy. Anyway, hope you and yours have a great Christmas and happy New Year.

William McGuiness

November 17,2008

Dear Mr. Larsen,

I would like to take this opportunity to thank you for your generous contribution towards my education. Over the course of this academic school year, and with your support, I will be enrolled in classes with a stronger focus and determination to acquire the knowledge I can use for my future.

In late July of this year, I arrived home from Bulgaria after volunteering for the US Peace Corps. For two years, I taught English to secondary students in a quiet sleepy town on the Danube. The friendships I established, the young lives I felt I impacted and the progress 1 made in my community helped affirm my belief in the virtues of public service and piqued my interest in international policy. Indeed, my experience there clarified the direction I wanted to take and paved a path towards which my passion could be applied.

From 5,800 miles away and over the telephone, I learned of my acceptance into the Evans School from the receptionist at the school. I was elated to be joining such a prestigious and forward looking program and to be returning to the university where I finished my undergraduate years. A few short weeks later I was informed of the William Shelton Fellowship and was in utter disbelief. The weight on my shoulders from the burden that further debt from education would place on me was of deep concern. With the fellowship, that weight and pressure are substantially less this year and I am able to redirect my energy towards learning.

The first six weeks of school have gone remarkably well as the transition from being a teacher to being a student has been smooth. I am enrolled in my first public management course as well as a budgeting and an economics course. The faculty is exceptional and the classes are providing the tools for productive and thoughtful policy analysis.
I am committed to being a faithful steward of the fellowship. My efforts this year will represent the hard work and ambition I have to acquire the knowledge and skills to be a successful student and apply it in my future profession. Please accept my humble gratitude for your assistance. I hope to meet you soon so I can personally convey my thanks.

Respectfully yours,

Michael Bennion

November 17, 2008

Dear Mr. Larsen,

I am honored to be the recipient of the William Shelton Fellowship to attend the Evans School of Public Affairs at the University of Washington. Because of your generosity, I am able to devote myself completely to my coursework at one of the best public policy programs in the nation without financial worry.

I chose to attend the Evans School for multiple reasons, including its world-class faculty, diverse and talented student body, and their commitment to sustainable policy development and public management. That said, my concerns about leaving my job for a full-time masters program required a substantial financial commitment for which I was unprepared. Receiving a fellowship to attend the Evans School quelled this apprehension, but more importantly impelled me to make the most significant academic and career decision of my life.

While at the Evans School, I plan on focusing my studies on economic and urban policy. Additionally, I intend to take multiple cost-benefit analysis courses to supplement these foci. Although I have yet to decide on a career after graduation, I plan to create and advocate sustainable policies that promote positive change in my community. The quantitative and analytical skills I will gain at the Evans School will surely lead me towards this goal.

Thus far, my experiences at the Evans School have been significantly valuable and rewarding. I have excelled in my coursework, met and befriended an array of fascinating and motivated people, and gained indispensable knowledge from my professors. Although early in my program, I know that I belong at the Evans School. Your faith in my success expressed through your fellowship has only increased this sense of belonging.

Again, thank you for your support and commitment to my future academic and professional success.

Sincerely,

Adam T. Buick
MPA Candidate 2010
The Evans School of Public Affairs, University of Washington

Mr. Crowston,
I am most grateful for the granting of this scholarship. It will make the load of my upcoming senior year much easier to carry. If I can ever he of service to you or the Suridsh Rite in genial, please do not hesitate to call.

A letter from Sonja O’Claire:

Mr. Crowston,

I hope this email finds you and your wife doing well and enjoying the summer time! Just for a refresher, this is Angie Jeffries and you helped me obtain a Scottish Rite scholarship for the past two years–for that fact I will always be grateful. I am now done in Pullman and will technically graduate from WSU in August, after I have completed my internship with Senator Patty Murray. I am currently living in Kirkland and work in her Seattle District Office, downtown Seattle. I plan on taking this next year to work (right now the pull is Americorps) and then attend graduate school. My life journey has taken me to this side of the state, which is where my question comes to play…

I don’t want to lose touch with my masonic background and this is a new area. I tried calling the Shriners Children’s Hospital to see if there was such a unit in Seattle and I was told there wasn’t. Basically I’m looking for a place to spend some quality time doing the community service I have always found important to provide, but I don’t know who to contact or where to look. Could you put me in contact with someone in this area?

Thanks again for everything and hope to hear from you soon,

Angie Jeffries

Dear Mr. Larsen:

I am writing to say thank you for your scholarship assistance. I was recently notified that I am this semester’s recipient of the Scottish Rite Scholarship Foundation of Washington Graduate Fellowship in Nursing. I can’t begin to express my joy and gratitude for having been chosen to receive this wonderful award!

It eases my mind to know that I can rid myself of some of my financial worries, and focus more on my classes. This award allows me to keep working only part time, and to borrow less money to pay for my education. I am honored to have someone invest in my future as a Family Nurse Practitioner.

While attending college to obtain my BSN my primary goal was to care for premature infants, however, after graduating in 2003 I took a position as a Float Pool RN in the hospital to gain more experience in other areas. Float pool nurses work in a variety of areas including: orthopedics, pediatrics, advance care, medical, and oncology. That experience, coupled with an ongoing desire to further my education, prompted me to apply to the Family Nurse Practitioner Program in 2007. I want to maintain a close professional relationship with my patients, while gaining more autonomy, and increasing my knowledge of the medical profession.

After graduating with a master’s degree as a Family Nurse Practitioner I want to work in a local clinic or physician’s office to gain experience as a primary care provider. I grew up in Inchelium and I am interested in improving health care on the Colville Indian Reservation. I am designing a research project for my thesis to determine if teen pregnancy is related to Native American educational attainment. In the future, I want to start a child abuse prevention program for at risk populations in order to improve parenting education, and access and continuity of child health care. I am going to continue to live and work in Washington State. It is a good fit, since my goals are ever evolving and changing, just like our weather!

Thank you again; your assistance is truly appreciated. Please express my gratitude to everyone involved for continuing to support those pursuing degrees in the nursing profession.

Sincerely,

Tiffany S. Christianson

Dear Mr. Larsen:

There are times in life when unexpected blessings arrive that are, well, a surprise. It is these times that confirm to me that the directions and decisions that I have made are the right ones. In April, I received notice of an additional scholarship being applied towards my education from The Scottish Rite for the 2008 2009 year. I am writing to say thank you for your continued financial support of my education.
This gift allows me to continue to pursue my goal in becoming a Family Nurse Practitioner in our community of Eastern Washington. Over the years as a critical care hospital nurse, I have gained a wealth of knowledge in caring for and stabilizing the critically ill children and adults. These experiences nurtured my vision to one day advance my career as a Nurse Practitioner and participate in the health prevention and maintenance of our community. When I finally embarked on the journey of the academic work load and financial commitment, the future was not in full view of the path towards the finish line. Your generosity helps ease the financial burden at this time as well as post graduation when I am choosing an area to work. I will have less of a financial constraint when choosing employment that mirrors my original mission in serving our community. Thank you.

In 1997, I lived in Tulsa, OK with my husband and young son. As a young mother, I knew my son’s speech and hearing was impaired and sought medical advice and therapy in repairing his auditory and verbal ability. The Scottish Rite in Tulsa welcomed us for professional speech therapy for the length of treatment needed. I was always astonished at the ministry provided to us and credit my son’s current academic success and outgoing social abilities to those first few years of foundational development and treatment from The Scottish Rite.

I share your mission to serve and give to those in need for the purpose of human progression and well being. From my son’s speech therapy 11 years ago to assisting in my current education as a Nurse Practitioner, The Scottish Rite was there and I am grateful to be a recipient of your generosity once more.

Sincerely,
Maria Castillo R.N., BSN
Nurse Practitioner Graduate Student
Washington State University