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VOL. 24. NO.4 OCTOBER 21 2003

what's on my mind

Donors and alumni scholars share lasting bond

BY HEATHER GOYETTE

With increasing student fees, scholarships play an even larger role in making college a reality for students.

While I entered UCLA in 2000 before fiscal problems spiraled, I still had to rely on outside assistance to attend UCLA. Of all the scholarships I applied for in my senior year in high school, the UCLA Alumni Scholarship was the most meaningful.

The scholarship gained meaning because it exposed me to all aspects of UCLA: from my area interview with UCLA alumni to my attendance at the state finals to meet UCLA students, to the welcoming reception to meet scholarship donors.

It is this personal interaction that distinguishes the Alumni Scholarship from many others, and in the end it convinced me that UCLA would become my new home. While other schools told me that I should feel lucky to attend their hallowed grounds, UCLA told me how lucky they would be to have me.

Now, as a senior and a scholarship donor myself, attending the donor receptions, such as the one hosted by the Alumni Association on Oct. 9, once more seems a fitting way to close my years at UCLA. Since my scholarship was established in memory of a deceased loved one, I was never able to meet my individual donor.

However, I recently had the opportunity to witness this special encounter as an engaged observer. I watched my friends’ faces as they met their donors, and I saw in them the same sense of fulfillment I felt. I watched the faces of donors as they met my friends and saw the same fulfillment in their eyes. The donors expressed their appreciation to the students, which seemed ironic at the time. Here was a group of people who cared about UCLA’s future students enough to help them financially, giving us the means to attend college, and they were thanking us.

Somewhere between the buffet line and the speeches and above the mingled voices, I remember the feeling of being a part of a UCLA community. That has remained with me since fall 2000 and resurfaced tangibly as I relived my experiences at that donor reception. Walking among new students and donors, I was again the observer; but now, instead of being the wide-eyed freshman, I was the seasoned Bruin dispensing advice and nametags.

My feelings of fulfillment have not changed since my first reception. Now, however, I understand the donors’ expressions. The donors had the same looks I hold now, thinking about graduation and the greater world awaiting me. The donors are thanking the students for being their hopes realized. I am watching the university’s future as others saw me just a few years ago.

Goyette is a senior majoring in American literature and culture. She is also an editorial and marketing intern for the UCLA Alumni Association.