2021 Unigo Education Matters Scholarship Winner

It’s an exciting time as we announce the winner of the Education Matters Scholarship. But before we do that, we want to thank each one of you for applying. There were 1,203 applicants and our scholarship committee read and evaluated every essay.

The essay asked “”What would you say to someone who thinks education doesn’t matter, or that college is a waste of time and money?” and participants had 250 words or less to answer.

Sandra Whitehead from Buna, TX 77612 and a student at The Chicago School of Professional Psychology had the winning answer. She joins our list of Unigo scholarship winners and we couldn’t be prouder.

Read her essay on Why Education Matters.

Winning Scholarship Entry

Contrary to popular opinion, ignorance is not bliss. Not knowing does not stop the enforcement of law and subsequent punishment. Yes, the list of people who succeed without degrees or fancy education has many notable names. As a member of a small rural community in Southeast Texas the attitude is relatively common. With the advent technology, the world has gotten smaller. More cultures and ethnicities communicate regularly. Education improves capable interpretation and perspective.

College offers the opportunity to develop troubleshooting and interpersonal skills in an intellectually safe environment, an environment that encourages and rewards the improvement of capabilities desperately needed. Students who attend college with only the intention of obtaining a degree are selling themselves and those who interact with them very short. In that instance, a mind and space in the education environment is missing the objective.

Attending college, choosing a college, and even identifying a vocation must be a mindful process that truly encompasses our changing world. College provides the knowledge and, most importantly, the ability to specialize in a chosen field. A prime example is Texas. There are 6,600 practicing veterinarians but an additional 1,300 are needed to reach the national average for the state population. Fewer than 200 of those veterinarians work exclusively on livestock in rural parts of the state. Texas has nearly double the number of cattle of any other state and hundreds of thousands more horses and almost a million more goats than any other state. Education has tangible value today and tomorrow.