February 12, 2009

Tempe, Ariz. Native Awarded BYU–Idaho Grant

 

Jennifer Burk, a freshman at Brigham Young University–Idaho, received the Harlo B. & Elsie Rigby Memorial Grant on Feb. 5. This grant will help support her as she pursues her educational goal to become a dental hygienist. 

Burk comes from unique circumstances. She is from a family of 16 children. Her immediate family consists of her two sisters and five brothers. After Burk’s mother died of melanoma, her father remarried a woman with eight children.  

Later, she helped her sister through a rough financial time, which prevented her from being able to pay for all of her schooling. On top of that, she had an emergency gall bladder surgery while she was living in Provo, Utah.

Even after experiencing all of these setbacks, Burk is grateful for her experiences.

“When I step back and look at my life, I can’t ask for anything more. I’m so blessed. I have the perfect life,” she said.

The Rigby Grant helps students from large families and requires that students have a financial need and a willingness to work hard to pursue educational goals. Burk’s work ethic definitely meets the qualification. To help pay for school she worked as a nanny and later as a grounds crew employee at BYU in Provo. 

Jeanna Clayson, from Bank of Commerce in Idaho Falls; and Mike Kelley, grants coordinator at BYU–Idaho, presented the award to Burk. 

“I have the greatest job in the world,” said Kelley. He helps identify which students are eligible for these kinds of grants. “These donors are making a great investment.”

The Harlo B. & Elsie Rigby Memorial Grant was created in 1965 by Mrs. Elsie G. Rigby in memory of her husband, who was a doctor in Rexburg. Students do not apply for this grant but are selected based on financial need and the strong desire to gain an education.