Emilie Patterson, herself a K-State Proud volunteer, needed help when her summer wages came up short.
As a K-State Proud volunteer, Emilie Patterson, junior at Kansas State University, did everything she could to give back. So when Emilie was in need, there was no doubt the Wildcat Nation would be there to support her.
Choosing to come to K-State was an easy choice for Emilie. The strong family atmosphere and open-option major allowed Emilie to feel at home while exploring different fields to find where she was most passionate. She is now a junior in food science, with dreams of going on and getting a masters degree and possibly attending medical school.
Emilie first heard about K-State Proud from a former co-chair on a volunteer trip. She thought it was interesting that an organization was giving back to students, so she decided to volunteer for the campaign her sophomore year of college.
That following summer Emilie decided, instead of taking the summer off, she would try to get ahead of the game and enroll in summer classes. The summer classes went great, but at the end of the term Emilie found herself in a predicament. Financial aid was unable to cover her bill, and even though she had been working all summer she had no way of paying the remaining total off. “I had holds on my account so I couldn’t enroll, and I knew some of the classes I needed would fill up pretty quickly, so I really didn’t know what to do,” Emilie said.
Suddenly Emilie went from being a volunteer to needing a helping hand yourself. “I’ve heard so much about all the good that K-State Proud has done, so I thought maybe they could help me too,” Emilie said.
Emilie received the award and was able to enroll in the fall semester at K-State. She has already started to give back by volunteering again for this year’s campaign which received more than $105,600 for student scholarships.
Because of K-State Proud, Emilie’s academic career is still on track. And because of Emilie and hundreds of others student’s who support the campaign, more students will be awarded Student Opportunity Awards, keeping the K-State family strong.