Seawolf Opportunity Scholarship recipient profile: Margarita Pelkhe

At 18 years old, Margarita Pelkhe is already on the path to success. With her previous involvement in clubs and competitions, and having landed an internship this dedicated student is focused on her future.

When Pelkhe was a sophomore in high school, she had to write a research paper on a career field that interested her. "Just like every 16 year old, I was pretty clueless on what career I wanted," she said. The high school made students take a Career Placement Test to find the career field that best fits their personalities. "Toward the top of my career results was accounting. So, I decided to take an accounting class the following year and I loved it!"

It's an understatement to say that Pelkhe was an active high school student. She was involved in several activities, including the National Honor Society, Business Professionals of America, We the People and Academic World Quest. In January, her team placed first in the Academic World Quest State Competition and went on to compete in Washington D.C. this past April. In the Business Professional of America competition, Pelkhe competed in the Financial Math & Analysis, Advanced Accounting and Computerized Accounting categories. She placed first in all three categories. "This was reassurance that accounting was the career for me," she said.

Pelkhe applied for many scholarships to help her achieve her dream of going to college. "Because of my large family, I knew I would need some outside help for school." Pelkhe grew up in a family of eight children. Her family moved to Alaska from Vancouver, Washington when she was 12 years old.

She applied for UAA's general scholarship, and was surprised to receive the letter saying she had won the SOS scholarship. "It means so much that someone out there believes in me. I'm so grateful that someone gave me this opportunity to fulfill my dream."

Through all of her hard work and dedication, Pelkhe landed an internship with Alaska Chadux Corporation as an accounting assistant intern. "Sometimes it's hard to put things into perspective, when in school, but having an internship allows me to take the things I learn in the classroom and apply it to the real world."

Pelkhe is always thinking about the near and distant future. This UAA freshman has plans on getting her master's in business administration and one day owning an accounting business. "To achieve success, you need to see the 'big picture' and recognize that every action will have an effect on the end result," she said.

The Seawolf Opportunity Scholarship is the result of the generous anonymous $7M gift that UAA received in the spring of 2009. Conditions of the gift stated that the majority of the money was to be used for student scholarships, particularly benefiting women and minorities. The $6M designated for scholarships enabled UAA to establish an endowment to provide needs-based scholarships to students.

This new needs-based scholarship will be awarded incrementally, up to four years, for students working toward an associate's or baccalaureate degree from UAA. This special feature is designed to provide an incentive and reward to students who persist in their studies toward a degree. Recipients of the Seawolf Opportunity Scholarship will receive money for tuition and housing or childcare each year - all very important for student success.

This donation has already had a significant impact on the lives of UAA's students; 50 students have been awarded this special scholarship for the 2009-10 academic year. Here's the story of one of our outstanding scholarship recipients.