McKay School of Education > News > Choosing to Bless: the Fritz B. Burns Foundation Scholarship
Choosing to Bless: the Fritz B. Burns Foundation Scholarship
Patricia Moses attends BYU with her daughter, Courtney. But when her husband unexpectedly lost his job in February, Patricia worried how they were going to find funds to continue both her own and Courtney’s education.
Jesi Fiso faced a different situation but the same underlying problem when she discovered she was pregnant. She and her husband—both current BYU students—stressed over funding their educations as well as the new addition. “We would not be able to accomplish this without financial assistance,” Jesi wrote on her Fritz B. Burns scholarship application. And when that assistance was provided, Jesi and many other students like Patricia and Courtney struggled to find words for their appreciation.
“It is truly an answer to my personal prayers,” wrote Karen Nichols when she received notification that the scholarship would help pay for her education while her father continued his schooling and her mother cared for Karen’s dying grandmother.
Kris Williamson, who postponed his education for a year to care for his father who was suffering from terminal cancer, expressed his heartfelt gratitude for the much-needed financial support. “Thank you for your generosity and love,” he wrote. “It will allow me to get my bachelor’s and continue on to get my master’s degree.”
The Fritz B. Burns Foundation scholarship has donated over $1.8 million dollars this year, blessing the lives of BYU students from California, who are struggling with circumstances like these.
Recipient students expressed their appreciation, stating that they too want to give back to their communities and bless lives. One recipient wrote, “One of my highest personal goals is to have the knowledge that someone else’s life is better, easier, or happier because I have lived.” The Fritz B. Burns scholarship has indeed made countless lives better, easier, and happier because of their donations.
“You have helped me move one step closer to my dream,” wrote Tamara Dyer, a student who funds her own education and now has the means to continue forward in her elementary education program. “Thank you.”
The foundation was created in honor of Fritz B. Burns, born in 1899 in Minneapolis, Minnesota. He prospered in a real estate business in southern California and later discovered oil on his property, which greatly increased his income. He used his money unselfishly, donating to Los Angeles organizations, hospitals, schools, and universities all his life. BYU has been selected as a Burns scholarship recipient because it reflects the high standards and values that characterized his life and work.
Patricia and Courtney Moses
Patricia Moses is a first-year graduate student majoring in communication disorders at BYU. As a graduating valedictorian in her undergraduate studies at the University of Utah, she was selected to speak at the College of Health Convocation. She currently maintains a 4.0 GPA, receiving some of the highest grades in her classes.
In her clinic work, Patricia has helped clients with communication disorders, including autism, voice disorders, and articulation problems. While providing therapy to these clients, she learned how invaluable gift of communicating effectively is, and she is determined to finish her education so that she may continue helping others overcome their communication barriers.
Her daughter, Courtney, is a BYU sophomore, studying secondary music education in the School of Music, with an instrumental emphasis, and because she received the Burns scholarship, she has had adequate funding to further develop her talents. She recently toured with the BYU Wind Symphony in Japan and South Korea, playing the contrabass clarinet. Without the foundation’s support, Courtney would not have been able to enjoy the “many rich, educational and cultural experiences” which she has had.
Jesi Fiso
Jesi Fiso received the Fritz B. Burns scholarship last year because she and her husband needed extra help funding both their educations at BYU. But this year, when Jesi became pregnant with her first child, she wondered if she could again receive help from the foundation, which she needed even more now. When she did receive the funding, she expressed sincere gratitude for the foundation’s willingness to once again bless her financially.
With the recent financial help, Jesi plans to obtain a history teaching degree. She expressed her desire to share her passion for history with future students. As a new mother, her desire to teach is even stronger. “I am so happy to be a mother, and I enjoy teaching my son about the world,” she expressed, “I look forward to completing my college education and becoming a certified teacher so that I can teach other children about the world.”
The foundation’s financial assistance currently enables Jesi to afford to work towards her teaching goal while still raising her son.
Karen Nichols
This summer Karen’s father will retire after 26 years of service in the United States Air Force and will finish his education at BYU. Financing two full-time students is difficult, and since Karen’s mother is committing her time to taking care of her mother, who is in hospice, financial help from the Burns foundation is a blessing the family greatly desired.
“It is truly an answer to my personal prayers,” Karen wrote the foundation after receiving notification that she would receive financial aid. “Thank you for allowing me to further my education at BYU, so I can reach my highest educational goal of becoming a teacher.”
Karen Nichols has wanted to be a teacher since her elementary school days. She has observed many teachers who inspired her with valuable lessons and she has hoped to some day give back by making learning exciting for her own students. “I want to give back to society my time and energy because of the many people who helped and inspired me,” she explained. “I will work hard, so I can achieve my goal of graduating from BYU, being well qualified and serving many.”
But the giving doesn’t stop there. “I want my students to make positive contributions to their communities” as well, Karen expressed, suggesting that the goal is to serve in a way that inspires action, just as the foundation has served her.
Kris Williamson
Last year, Kris Williamson found out that his father had a rare form of cancer. In order to spend more time caring for his father, Kris withdrew from school. But when the cancer took his father’s life in November, Kris realized he would need to provide for himself and potentially for his mother. So Kris planned to go back to BYU knowing that funding an education after an illness and death in the family would be difficult.
The Fritz B. Burns scholarship provided a way for him to get his bachelor’s degree as well as continue on toward his master’s in order to become a speech language pathologist.
“This field brings me a lot of joy because I know I will be helping other people in a way they are not able to help themselves,” Kris expressed. Similarly, Kris related, “This scholarship is providing that kind of service to me.”
Kris described his deep feelings of gratitude as he realized the price other people have paid for his education and future. “Thank you,” he wrote to the foundation, “for your generosity and love.”
Tamara Dyer
Tamara Dyer pays her own way through school, so acquiring funds for education and daily living while going to school is stressful and time consuming. This past school year, Tamara worked as a full-time security guard in the library on campus, while also working on her studies. Because she received the Burns scholarship, she will have more time to focus on her studies, as well as volunteer in local elementary schools to learn through observing and interacting with teachers and students.
With one year left in the early childhood education program, Tamara recognizes the need to strengthen her techniques and skills in teaching. “I want to be the very best teacher possible, and learn everything I can about how to teach better,” Tamara expressed to the foundation. “I will be able to do this more effectively with the added time I will now have”—time made available by the funding from the scholarship.
Tamara sincerely thanked the foundation for helping her move one step closer to her dream, mentioning that she too wants to someday help a student in “a fraction of the same way” that the scholarship has helped her.
2 November 2009