February 12, 2009

Pierce City, Mo. Native Receives BYU–Idaho Grant

 

Julia Willis, a freshman attending 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 goals in creative writing.

Willis comes from a large family. It started out with eight children, but grew when her father remarried a woman with five daughters. After the marriage, another baby was born, bringing the grand total to 14 children.

The Rigby Grant requires that students have a financial need and a willingness to work hard to pursue educational goals. Willis’ work ethic definitely meets the qualification.  To help pay for school she wakes up at 3 a.m. and works on a janitorial crew that maintains campus buildings. After work she attends classes. 

Even though Willis has been working, she has still struggled to make all of her payments.  

“I hate asking for money,” Willis said, but when she realized her bank account reached $3, and her paycheck wasn’t going to cover tuition and living expenses, she called her father for help. After she called her father, she checked her e-mail and saw that she had been awarded this grant. She said she thought it was too good to be true. 

“Before the grant I was so worried about making payments,” Willis said. “The grant came in, and now things are okay. This grant is an answer to my prayers.”

She still works every morning at 3, but now work doesn’t seem as stressed.

Willis’ love for writing and her desire to be a mother inspired her decision to major in English Literature with an emphasis in creative writing. She is very inspired by authors who are also parents.

She wants to write young adult fiction and enjoys works by Jane Austen and “Twilight”-series author, Stephenie Meyer.

“I’m very confident in what I want to do,” Willis said.  “Even if I never publish a book, I’ll still do it because I enjoy it.” 

Willis was homeschooled through high school and began taking college courses at age 17 at the Metropolitan Community College in Longview. This is her first semester at BYU–Idaho. 

¬¬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.