Scholarship Recipient Testimonies: Your Gift At Work

The core of being an Antioch student is about service and becoming a motivated and positive catalyst in communities across the world. Our goal is nothing short of changing the world, one business, one classroom, and one community at a time, and together with our alumni, employees and friends, we are crafting a legacy—a far more lasting one than any of us could ever make alone

Erika Meers, Department of Education

"The most essential thing I have learned as an education student at AUNE is that the best teaching occurs when teachers care about their students. At AUNE my professors believe in me, support me, and push me forward in a way that allows me to achieve my full potential. This is what I aspire to bring to my future students. One day I hope to start a school in Canada (my native country) that will combine Waldorf education philosophy with integrated learning concepts within a warm and loving environment-like I have known here at AUNE."

Kaitlin Takayanagi, Department of Environmental Studies

"To be surrounded by people who really do want to change the world is inspiring. People from many backgrounds are in my program and this adds immensely to the richness of my education. I am able to blend science with education in creative ways that bring together many of my long-held aspirations. It is my goal to teach in an urban school where I can implement innovative, experiential, hands-on science curricula."

Jacob Austin, Department of Clinical Psychology

"Our society desperately needs help now, even if it doesn't seem to want it. For three years preceding my arrival at Antioch University New England I learned this lesson well as a teacher in the Mississippi delta. Many teachers spend their entire career without seeing the tragedies that my first six months exposed me to. One thing I learned in the delta is that rural communities desperately need the best that modern mental health care can provide. I plan to take the training I receive from Antioch University New England and return to a rural community like Helena, Arkansas and set up shop. In fact, I chose AUNE because it is the most expedient route to doing so."

Nadia Ekon, Department of Organization & Management

"As a black woman from Togo, West Africa, I am fascinated by the MBA program's humanitarian mission to educate effective managers with an emphasis on sustainability and social responsibility. I look forward to continuing to develop the knowledge and skills that will enable me to effect positive, lasting social change, for myself, the organizations I work with, and my society as a whole. I am confident that this scholarship will help me achieve my objectives here in my adopted country, the United States, and also in my native land, Togo."

Sarah Hollier, Department of Applied Psychology

"Being able to attend graduate school has meant a year of personal transformation. As a single mom, your scholarship made a great difference to my family and to me. My classes challenge me not only academically, but from the inside out of my being and spirit. I am particularly interested in learning about multicultural competence and diversity and becoming a competent counselor. Becoming truly adept in this area will be an ongoing, lifelong development. I thank Antioch University New England for jumpstarting the process."

Last Updated: 3/4/10