Never too late

WASILLA — Three Valley women working to better their lives by going back to school recently learned they’d won a new scholarship to help with tuition at the Wasilla Charter College.

But they didn’t know until reading this article today whether they’d won $5,000 or $10,000 from the Mat-Su Valley Frontiersman/Charter College Community Partnership Scholarships (www.chartercollege.edu). Only one of them would receive the larger award.

“Any amount would be a huge help,” Wasilla mother of four Wendy Spohnholz said Monday, ecstatic to be getting a leg up after struggling through family tragedies over the last two decades.

She and paralegal program classmate Letty Smith, Palmer, hugged one another during a gathering of the scholarship recipients at Charter College earlier this week, happy they’d both been chosen.

Accounting student Marie Wesley, also of Palmer, was all smiles and anxious to know who’d won what.

All new students at Charter College and all mothers of young children seeking to improve the future for their families, they were required to submit essays detailing their academic plans and their career goals.

What the selection committee of Frontiersman and Charter College leaders received, however, were heartfelt glimpses into each woman’s life and their motivations for applying for the scholarships.

One essay, in particular, nearly brought tears to the eyes of Frontiersman Publisher Kari Sleight and Charter College President John Harmon.

“Ms. Spohnholz’s story really moved us,” Sleight said Tuesday of the decision to award her the $10,000 scholarship. “It feels so good to know we can help have such a positive impact on these ladies’ lives.”

To be eligible for the scholarships, they also had to be newly enrolled, full-time Charter College students, provide high school or GED transcripts, complete admissions interviews before Nov. 5, maintain a grade point average of at least 2.5, meet attendance requirements and successfully complete their programs of study.

But it was the personal essays that clinched the deal for Spohnholz, Smith and Wesley to beat out three other candidates.

In Spohnholz’s essay, she explained what motivated her to finally apply for college again after years of grief over a lost child.

“When I was young, I had big goals for myself and a great, shining dream of the future,” she wrote. “As a young mother, I found strength in the love of my beautiful child and a drive to make him proud of me. I was researching Scholarships and I planned to enroll at USS to earn my teaching degree, when suddenly my child became seriously ill and died. I was paralyzed by my grief, and my life stopped for the next six years. I can only say that the loss of my sweet baby, before he ever took his first steps, has altered my life forever.”

She explained that 10 years ago she was blessed without another child, a daughter, who has been her rock.

“She wants you to know that she believes in me and is so proud of me for going back to school, “ she continued in the essay. “She has committed to helping us with her little brothers, 3 and 1 year old.”

If that isn’t enough to tug the heartstrings, Spohnholz explained that this year her son would have been 17, and that is what ultimately drove her to make a big change in her life.

“A dear friend of mine suggested that my son would want me to fulfill my dream of getting a degree,” she wrote. “On his 17th birthday, in honor of his memory, I enrolled at Charter College in the Paralegal Studies Associates Degree Program.”

Spohnholz said she plans to work in her father’s law office in Eagle River once she earns her degree.

“He has always believed in my abilities, valued my work, and he needs my help as he works toward his goal of retirement,” she said. “If I can help my dad and make him proud of me, then that alone makes my education worth it.”

She said she also plans to volunteer at the Alaska Family Resource Center in the Valley because of past experiences with her ex-husband — a chapter of her life she’d rather not talk about.

Spohnholz, 34, said that although her current husband works full time, the family’s finances are stretched thin and that without the scholarship, she would have difficulty obtaining her degree.

Likewise, Smith, 24, took a leap of faith that her finances would fall into place when she decided to go back to school to become a paralegal

The Valley Pathways graduate set her sights on working in the law field when she and her husband hit some legal snags while adopting two foster children.

“Our support system failed us and our family,” she wrote in her essay. “Time and time again I have seen (social) workers break policies and make choices because of their feelings and not by what is procedure, law, or even what is best for the children involved. I realized I had finally found my calling. I wanted to support and guide families going through adoptions, biological families fighting for their kids and even families suffering through divorce and custody issues.”

Smith said Charter College was the best option because she’s able to attend night classes for the next 15 months while her husband stays home with the children. He’s in a UAA program during the day to become a physician’s assistant, she said.

Wesley, who graduated from high school in Nebraska 10 years ago, said she dreams of having her own accounting business after first working for Valley accounting firms for several years.

“When I was growing up we were really poor and my parents hardly made any money, but they always had to pay in taxes,” the mother of three wrote in her essay. “After my father passed away my mom decided to go to a new accountant who had just moved to the area. He showed her all the deductions she could get for having a ranch.”

She went on to explain that her parents’ previous accountant in their tiny town of 12 never told them about all the tax deductions they qualified for.

“I still wonder how many ranchers and farmers are still paying more than they need to just because they don’t have anyone else to go to,” she said. “I want to give them that choice. I believe by opening my own business back home in Nebraska I will not only help myself, but give people a choice on who they want to do their accounting.”

She said she also wants to make her kids proud.

“I read that kids who have a parent who graduated from college are more likely to go to college themselves,” she said.

Sleight said she’s hoping the Frontiersman can continue to contribute to the scholarship fund for years to come. Perhaps these first recipients’ children will end up with their own scholarship one day.

“We jumped at the chance to be able to give back to the community this way,” Sleight said. “We saw this as a way we could make a significant impact in a few residents’ lives.”

Contact K.T. McKee at kate.mckee@frontiersman.com or 352-2252.