University of Guam students (from left) Britney Sison, Aisleabesh Maglaque, and Anesha Ignacio are three recipients of 41 community-funded scholarships awarded this semester through the UOG Endowment Foundation. University of Guam file photo from 2020 ()
Last week, 32 University of Guam students received extra financial support toward their education with the awarding of 41 community-funded scholarships through the UOG Endowment Foundation. The foundation held a virtual ceremony on Sept. 29 to recognize both the student recipients and the personal and corporate scholarship sponsors, who contributed $67,000 in total.
“Knowing that there are people out there who are doing what they can to assist students like me […] shows me that I’m not alone in this journey,” said Kyona Rivera, a sophomore communications major from Saipan who received a total of $5,750 for the academic year as the recipient of the James & Young Hee Ji Scholarship and the CLASS “G is for Giving” Scholarship.
Katrina Perez, executive director of the foundation, said companies, organizations, and families are inspired to create scholarships for a variety of reasons — whether to support academic advancement in a subject area of importance to them, to carry on the memory of someone influential, or to encourage disadvantaged students to stay the course in their education.
“The UOG Endowment Foundation is tremendously grateful to our generous scholarship donors,” Perez said. “Through their benevolence, they are not only helping to fulfill an individual’s dream… rather, they are helping to ensure that, as a community, we are safeguarding our collective recovery.”
Senior civil engineering major Viliame Vuetibau, who received a scholarship from SSFM International of $7,825 — the largest of this semester’s awards through the UOG Endowment Foundation, said that having the financial support means there is one less thing to worry about as a student.
“They say it takes a village to raise a child. The same can be said about finishing college,” Vuetibau said. “… completing our degrees seems a lot less stressful with the financial support of our donors and the backing from our communities.”
For any companies or individuals interested in supporting the University of Guam or establishing a scholarship for students, please contact the University of Guam Endowment Foundation at (671) 735-2957 or e-mail, or visit the website.
