Business School Scholarship Winners

1st Quarter, 2008 StraightForward Media is proud to announce that the winner of our latest Business School Scholarship is Dan Botwink. "Since writing my essay, I accomplished my goal of purchasing my first commercial property, a 7-unit residential building, after months of long effort. Less than a month later, I purchased my 2nd property, another 8 units, and I'm now working on 2 other deals totaling 27 units. The deals that I have done are going very well, and my investors are excited for me to find more opportunities. While I am enjoying working in the real world, I am very excited to go back to school full-time and continue to learn more in an academic setting. I am an avid traveler and an active member of my local Habitat for Humanity chapter."	Read an excerpt from Dan's winning essay here.
4th Quarter, 2007 StraightForward Media is proud to announce that the winner of our latest Business School Scholarship is Alejandro Bulux. "I am beginning my fourth of my undergraduate at California State University, Long Beach. When I graduated from high school and decided to pursue a degree in Business Management at California State University, Long Beach I knew it would be a tough road ahead. Although I had few, but proud achievements in high school, like receiving All-League awards in football two years in a row, and being inducted in the National Football Foundation and College Hall of Fame, I was aware that I needed to do more to survive in the academic/professional field. Currently in my fourth year at CSULB I have managed to maintain a good GPA and have begun to develop what will be the next step for me. Through my academic and co-curricular involvement I have had the privilege of gaining a skill set which I believe can assist me in adapting to numerous and diverse fields. Having served as the president for UMSA, an academic and social involvement organization, being part of the Mentoring Business Program, interning this past summer in Washington, D.C. with the United States Department of Agriculture and other numerous community and academic activities have afforded me the ability to develop key characteristics of what I envision to be a leader. I was able to make use and improve my communication skills, in working with students, faculty, and the community I was able to ascertain my organizational and leadership style, and ultimately I realized that every experience is an opportunity to learn and to grow personally and professionally.	Read an excerpt from Alejandro's winning essay here.
3rd Quarter, 2007 StraightForward Media is proud to announce that the winner of our latest Business School Scholarship is Arjun Sirrah.	Read an excerpt from Arjun's winning essay here.
2nd Quarter, 2007 StraightForward Media is proud to announce that the winner of our 2nd Quarter, 2007, Business School Scholarship is Amber Bieg. "I am an entrepreneur. I am in the process of starting a multi-media marketing company that helps other businesses and non-profits in their communication goals. I am also starting my MBA. Business school is helping me gain basic business skills that help me pursue my goals. As I dive head first into my education, I am simultaneously driving forward my new company. It is a 24 hours per day, 7 days per week, life-consuming occupation. ."	Read an excerpt from Amber's winning essay here.
1st Quarter, 2007 StraightForward Media is proud to announce that the winner of our latest Business School Scholarship is Amy Robinson. "I come from a long line of entrepreneurs in my family, most of them being women. This is what gives me the passion to one day own my own business. At this point in my life, I am interested in event planning for organizations such as the American Cancer Society (ACS) or the National Football League (NFL) and hope to someday operate my own company. Event planning centers around creativity and building an idea from scratch; both of which I have been successful at in the past. In event planning, a person sees the direct result of all the hard work and dedication that she invested in the project. The adrenaline of a deadline is what drives me and keeps me motivated. I feel that I am a leader who is very open to the ideas and suggestions of others. Developing my own company would allow me to make my ideas and dreams come true without conforming to the standards of others. I was president of the Future Business Leaders of America (FBLA) at my high school and competed in the Regional and State Competition twice, most recently winning second place at the state level in the category of Entrepreneurship. I was also the chairman of the Erie Insurance Safe Driving Program, "Lookin' Out". This program was designed to teach teenage drivers the importance of being aware of driver safety and of being aware of their surroundings and the hazards of driving. Throughout my high school career I was also a 4-year member of the Sherwood High School volleyball team which won the state championship in 2006. I also participated in the Model United Nations for 4 years. I competed as a delegate in both Model UN at George Washington University and Model OAS at the Organization of American States headquarters in Washington, DC. I look forward to continuing my educational experience at Flagler College in St. Augustine, Florida where I plan to major in Business Administration and Sports Management."	Read an excerpt from Amy's winning essay here.
4th Quarter, 2006 StraightForward Media is proud to announce that the winner of our 4th Quarter, 2006, Business School Scholarship is Christie Pisha. My name is Christie Pisha, and it is difficult for me to talk about myself. I feel that I am just a normal, average person with big dreams. I am an only child with a very small loving family and a larger extended family. It is this strength and support of family that has pushed me to believe that even as an adult I can go back to school. I always made good grades in school, but since I have always had to be an individual I did not have an easy road. I left at age 16 and continued my education through night school, computer classes, and vocational training for photography. I bounced around through some meaningless jobs, then found the veterinary field. I have been a veterinary technician for 11 years and a practice manager for 6. It was as the PM that I found that I wanted more knowledge and a formal education. My dream job is to own my own consulting firm. This will now be possible with this scholarship."	Read an excerpt from Christie's winning essay here.
3rd Quarter, 2006 StraightForward Media is proud to announce that the winner of our latest Business School Scholarship is Eileen Karsda. "In May of 2004 I graduated from Washington College in Chestertown, Maryland with a major in Biology and a minor in Psychology. Upon graduation I began working full time at Johns Hopkins University in Neurobiology Research. I worked primarily with the Borna Disease Virus, a neurodegenerative virus that mimics similar pathways of many mental illnesses. In September 2005, I was promoted to Laboratory Coordinator for the Division of Neurobiology, managing two floors of research. This past December I was promoted again to my current position, Administrative Manager. I now spend most of my time working on scientific grants, budgets, and contracts.
"While working full time, I am also a part time student at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. I am working on a Masters of Health Science in Health Finance and Management. When I first began working at Hopkins I was initially interested in research; however, my interests have now moved toward finance and management. My current position allows me the opportunity to further explore these fields from a research perspective. A true passion in my life has always been health care. After completing my Masters degree I plan to blend my scientific background, my experience in finance and management and my love for social justice in a health care administration position." Read an excerpt from Eileen's winning essay here.
2nd Quarter, 2006 StraightForward Media is proud to announce that the winner of our 2nd Quarter, 2006, Business School Scholarship is Brandon Hart. Brandon is working on his MBA at Arizona State University and will finish his first year of the program this spring. Upon graduation, he intends to transition from a client-advisory role to investment banking or money management.
"I presently work as an Investment Advisor for a firm that focuses its services on members of the U.S. Armed Forces. I have been in the finance industry for 4 Years and love it. In the small amount of recreational time I have, I try to enjoy the company of my wife, friends, and family. I also enjoy traveling, attending sporting events and simply relaxing when possible. Read an excerpt from Brandon's winning essay here.

1st Quarter, 2006 StraightForward Media is proud to announce that the winner of our 1st Quarter, 2006, Business School Scholarship is Nate Giska,who plans to attend Northern Colorado University to study business.

"At night, I am an assistant manager at Penn Station East Coast Subs, where I run my own shifts 5 nights a week. During the day, I am doing work at our local skate shop as an event coordinator as well as designing and working on the huge interior renovation. I also donate hours of my time at the local screen printing business and in return they allow Ben and I to print all of our clothing for my business, Concussed Threadz. Some how, I still manage to squeeze in many hours on the lake wakeboarding with my friends." Read an excerpt from Nate's winning essay here.

StraightForward Media is proud to announce that the winner of our 4th Quarter, 2005, Business School Scholarship is Nick Barbian. He is currently a double major in Business and Communications at St. Norbert College in De Pere, WI.

"At SNC I am a member of the Green Knight Varsity Baseball team, a Delta Upsilon fraternity member, the concert coordinator for the student life activities board, a disc jockey for the WSNC (our college radio station), and I also work as a building manager at the Campus Center. In the fall I plan to study abroad in London, England. I have always enjoyed traveling and jumped at the opportunity to study in a different country."

Please click here to read an excerpt from Nick's winning essay.

Please click here to read an excerpt from Jessica's winning essay.

Born in China in 1986, Melody was soon orphaned because of population control in China known as the "One Child" policy.

She was adopted by her parents in 1998 at the age of 12. She has one brother and four sisters, also adopted from China between 1995 and 2000. They are a middle-class family of eight, and she shares one large upstairs bedroom with her four sisters.

"During my eleven years in the orphanage in China, I was allowed to attend school for only two and a half years due to severe financial pressures on the orphanage. When I came to America and began public school here, I knew not a word of English. My peers already had the advantage over me of a minimum of four to six years of public school, yet I caught up with them in an amazingly short period of time."

She speaks both Chinese and English and her extracurricular activities at Nashua High School include the Ultimate Frisbee Club and the Activity Coordinating Team. She was an active staff member of the Granite State Credit Union branch in her high school.

Please click here to read an excerpt from Melody's winning essay.

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