I decided it made sense to give part of my future bonuses to the school that made them possible. The Essex Scholarship Fund was created 20 years ago in May. The fund, now endowed, has awarded 19 scholarships. While recent awards have been as much as $1,000, early awards were as little as $300 — I took to calling it my beer and books scholarship. Joking aside, though, I remember excruciatingly well what a few more bucks can mean to a struggling college student.
I’ve designated a portion of my estate to go to the fund to ensure that I can continue to help students and support the school that, bluntly, changed my life.
And it has been fun. One of my scholars was Herbie Husker (the guy inside the suit). One, largely by coincidence, worked for me for a summer when I was editor-publisher of the Glenwood Springs Post Independent in western Colorado. I’ve gotten to meet several of the students, which is invigorating, encouraging — and humbling, because they have it so much more together than I did at that age.
It also has been deeply gratifying and at times moving. One student’s thank-you note stuck with me through the years. She wrote that her mother had died when she was 11, and her father, earning just $25,000 a year, had borrowed against his retirement fund for living expenses. This was just the type of student I had hoped to help when I set guidelines for the fund.
In preparing to write this essay, I looked up what had become of that student, Katrina Fischman, whom I’d met at a lunch in 2010.
She didn’t go into journalism, moving instead toward working with immigrants, including a role in Lincoln as a Spanish interview specialist for an insurer. And then, LinkedIn told me, Harvard Law.
Today, Katrina Fleury is an attorney with Texas RioGrande Legal Aid, representing people in immigration court and helping them apply “for lawful permanent residency, employment authorization documents, naturalization … visas for victims of qualifying crimes and human trafficking” and more.
She generously said by email that my scholarship meant a lot to her. But what she has done, what the other recipients have done, means more to me. My gifts clearly are the best use of my money ever.
If you would like to learn more about how a planned gift can have a positive impact on your family and the university you can:
