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All donations support services to prepare EWU TRIO McNair scholars for success at the doctoral level. Below are letters to donors from scholars. Your contribution has immediate and impactful meaning to those in the program. To donate, click on the button!
Testimonials from EWU McNair Scholars
Testimonial from Ereisa Morales
EWU McNair cohort 2016-2017
PhD Program:
Michigan State University, Sociology (2019)
I remember sitting in my first English class in college and writing my first research paper about students in higher education. I was so amazed reading the articles and thinking, “Wow, I wonder if people actually do this for a living!” As a first-generation student, I wasn’t aware of the different career paths one could take upon obtaining a B.A. (I come from an agricultutal/low-income background). Eventually I met McNair Scholars and heard them speak about the support they received and the research they had done themselves! I was so amazed to learn that there were students like me there doing work.
Being the first in my family to go to college was itself a challenge. Everything was difficult – the financial aspect, finding guidance and support systems. However, with the McNair Scholars’ Program, I received help with all three of these initial roadblocks and support throughout my undergraduate career. Not only did this program help me through the graduate process and with the nitty-gritty, but it also gave me a sense of confidence in a place that is not designed for students like me. I honestly could not have done this without my mentors and the McNair Scholars’ Program.
I will forever be grateful for the McNair Scholars’ Program: Dr. Christina Torres Garcia (for always believing in me and pushing me to do more that I thought myself capable); Cynthia Dukich (for being the piece of serenity I needed when I was feeling overwhelmed); Carlos Muñoz (for helping me with my process and making it fun); Ben Murray (for helping me with my writing process and hyping me up when I was in doubt); Najeda Patolo (for listening to me vent and ramble on about things I was confused about); Dr. Edmundo Aguilar (for being a great mentor and keeping it real with me); and the McNair Scholars’ Program for believing in and providing opportunities and resources to students like me.
Testimonial from Josiah Van Egdom
EWU McNair cohort 2016-2017
PhD Program:
Syracuse University, Political Science (2019)
I want to say a huge thank you to everyone at McNair and to everyone who has helped any McNair Scholar in the past. Many of us, including myself, would not be in the position to enjoy such great opportunities without the team members behind the scenes who makes it possible: The McNair staff, all of the mentors, and family and friends. This program is so important. It empowers individuals beyond what anyone expects and being in it has been one of the best experiences of my life. It has shaped me and has helped me grow as an individual in more ways than I can count. Thank you to everyone at McNair and to everyone involved with the program for creating a new generation of strong and effective thinkers.
I think that anyone who goes through a program like the McNair Scholars’ Program has a duty and an obligation to pass on the invaluable information learned as participants to new students who want to do similar things. My mentor has been a role model and someone I have looked up to for the past two years of my life, and I want to be that for someone in the future. I know that being a mentor for someone in a similar position will be incredibly rewarding.
