Elizabeth Castro, a UW junior, spent August in Paris learning about surrealism in the city of light and she has a woman born in 1909 to thank for it. In 2008, Katherine E. McDermott, in honor of her grandmother, Roseanna Wabel McDermott (1909–2007), established an endowed fund that is helping students who want to explore the world.
“I’ve been out of the U.S. for five years but it has been a pleasure every summer to come back and see where the scholarship students are going,” says McDermott, ’00.
The Roseanna Wabel McDermott Endowed Fund for Study Abroad supports such opportunities for underrepresented, economically disadvantaged and first-generation college students in the Office of Minority Affairs & Diversity’s Educational Opportunity Program. Family members said that Roseanna believed in the power of education to transform lives. All of her children went on to earn degrees and travel the world. One of them, Congressman Jim McDermott, has traveled since 1989 to one of the world’s strangest places: the U.S. Congress.
This year, for the first time $1,000 scholarships were given to two students. Castro, who is an International Studies major at the Henry M. Jackson School of International Studies, says the scholarship “will allow me to not worry as much about covering my study abroad expenses.” This last year, she was part of the College Assistance Migrant Program (CAMP) at the UW. CAMP supports students from a migrant and agricultural family background.
“Thanks to CAMP, I found the resources to apply for this scholarship. It allows me to focus more on my studies and finding opportunities,” she says. Castro has traveled to Mexico to visit family in Veracruz, and when she was 17, she spent time as a junior counselor in South Korea. The trip to Paris was her first to Europe.
“After completing my second year of French at the UW, I felt it was important for me to put my language skills to the test and learn more in-depth about French history and culture. This study abroad program helped give me a new, important perspective on Paris through literature and artwork,” she says.
Amy Nguyen, a UW senior pursuing a double major in the Foster School of Business in marketing and information systems, also received a $1,000 scholarship.
“The McDermott Scholarship has opened up many doors for me. Not only will it help fund my passion to travel and my dream of studying abroad, it has also helped remind me that obstacles such as finding the money to do so should not hold me back in pursuing what I want in life,” she says.
If you are interested in learning more about planned giving, or would like to make a gift to support OMA&D programs, contact Priya Frank at fpriya@uw.edu or (206) 616–3085. You can also make a gift online at: uwfoundation.org/diversity.
-Article courtesy Viewpoint Magazine