Andrew Nicholas Mason,
Donald L. Hommertzheim Memorial Scholarship in Industrial Engineering

Dear Donor:

I would like to take this opportunity to sincerely thank you for the aid that your funding has given me. I am the proud recipient of the Donald L. Hommertzheim Memorial Scholarship in Industrial Engineering named after your husband. I must let you know how much it means for me to receive this kind of award. To do that, please let me tell you a small anecdote. When I first received the scholarship, I was very happy. The scholarship was truly a great help for me. Initially, I missed the detail that the scholarship was privately funded. I thought it came from university funds. However, I soon realized that it actually came from a private donor. This truly shocked me. I could not believe someone I never met was helping me fund my education. It is a pleasure to know that such goodness can be found. I must say that your generosity has really been an inspiration to me.

The situation in my home country of Bolivia is now a very hard one and that makes it very hard to study abroad (both financially and sentimentally). Because of this, the aid that you provide proves essential, both giving me the means and the inspiration to go on. It makes me wish that someday I will have the chance to help a student in the way you have helped me. I am still a junior in industrial engineering, nevertheless, I am extremely eager to start working and fulfilling my dreams. I would also like to talk a little about myself and the dream you are helping me achieve as an international student.

I came to the U.S. in order to get a more complete education and, someday, I plan to return to my country and make a true difference. I am a big dreamer and my aims are high for the future. Amongst my dreams, I include starting a new company in Bolivia; a company that generates desperately needed work and resources. My wildest dream (a dream that can be seen as aiming beyond the moon) is to someday become the president of my country. This dream may sound really wild and the path I take may seem to be a little off, but I believe one cannot get to that position without first doing great good to society; and one cannot achieve this without a first-class education.

Once again, I want to thank you for giving me that extra push and the help to go on. I hope other students continue to receive the help I have and they appreciate it as much as I do.

My best wishes to you,
Andrew Nicholas Mason

Read about the Donald L. Hommertzheim Memorial Scholarship in Industrial Engineering