A Scholarship Award

November 1, 2018

Brinley applied for the Women's Energy Network scholarship.  She didn't really know much about it other than her cousin (CJ King) mentioned it to her.  She had to submit a transcript and a 500 word essay and then we attended a three hour banquet.  I was dying a little at the idea of a three hour banquet and instructional evening.  Brian traveled to Lubbock to watch Parker play and I saw Aubrey for about 10 minutes after school before we had to leave to the banquet.  Tanner was at school staying for tutoring and I had to call my dad to give him a ride home.  Every time we had a break I was fielding texts and trying to arrange rides to and from the Middle School playnight and checking in on Parker's game. Aubrey ended up at Avery's for the evening....love those McKowns!  It was a little complicated but things worked out.

Even though it was a long evening it was actually very interesting.  The women who put it on are all in STEM type fields.  Most of the women worked as chemical or mechanical engineers, teaching math or geologists.  They had a panel were they spoke about how they chose their field of study and a little about their careers and then they opened it up to questions from the floor.  They were very open about not knowing for sure what they might want to do and switching career paths.  The panel information alone was very enlightening I think for the high school girls who attended.  Next they had the parents at the back of the room visiting with Midland College and UTPB counselors while the girls rotated tables every 20 minutes for an hour.  Different professional women were sitting at separate tables telling more about their field and the girls could ask more questions.  I think the tables Brinley chose were geology, engineering and accounting.  After a short break it was time to award the scholarships.  They had $24,000 to award and I was so excited when Brinley's name was called for one of the highest scholarships given.  I was so happy for her and proud of her.  She has always worked very hard in school and it was nice to see that kind of recognition for her.  Thank you Women's Energy Network and Pioneer for making this award possible!

Woot woot!  So proud of our girl!

Super proud of these 1st cousins once removed for receiving the top two awards for the evening!