Olivia Love
Staff Writer
Paying for a college education is a huge feat and scholarships are one of the main ways students are able to afford school. Because of this, ISU and departments within the university are constantly working to create and sustain scholarship opportunities for students.
This year, there is a new scholarship offered in the English department and a new scholarship available to welders.
The Price L. Worrell Scholarship Endowment in English is one of the new scholarship opportunities at ISU this year. This scholarship for English students was donated to the university by Price Worrell who graduated and now teaches at ISU.
Worrell’s story is of hope and that is what he is trying to give students who have had a similar situation to his.
“There are surely other people in similar circumstances that I had gone through that may not have the advantage of parents,” said Worrell.
Worrell was adopted when he was 17 into his best friend’s family. These loving parents were eventually the reason he finished his schooling.
“I had a pretty troubled background and I never thought I would finish college,” Worrell said. “When I’d gotten my life together, I had exhausted my financial aid from struggling through school and my own personal stuff so my parents helped me with my last semester. That allowed me to finish.”
Worrell’s parents are a constant source of inspiration for him and he hopes to spread what they taught him to students at ISU.
This scholarship is a very personal way of giving back for Worrell because he is able to put into practice the generosity of his parents.
“The most important thing is that I am emulating my dad, who was an incredibly smart and giving person that also went through his own struggles when he was younger,” Worrell said.
The intention of this scholarship is to provide financial help to a student who has gone through some kind of struggle from which they grew as a person and, as a result of that, want to also give back. Worrell wants to spark a sense of hope in a student so that they can pursue their educational dreams.
“I want to leave a legacy of hope. I want people to believe that in themselves, no matter what goes on on the outside, they can overcome it and grow as a person and then be able to give back,” Worrell said.
The scholarship that is reserved for welders is the Daniel P. Barclay Scholarship, donated by Daniel Barclay Sr.’s grandsons.
This scholarship is rightfully given in Barclay’s name considering everything he gave the welding program here at ISU.
“Dan Sr. was one of the great innovators and founding fathers of the welding program,” said Dave Treasure, chair of the trade and industrial department. “He introduced process, procedures and techniques that were unknown before his arrival.”
Barclay did not keep his talent to himself. During his eight years as department head, Barclay taught and advised many students. In addition to this, welding became a family trade.
Barclay’s sons and grandsons are prominent in the field of welding. It is because of their grandfather’s generosity with his knowledge that Barclay’s grandson’s wanted to give back to the department.
“They’re a really close knit family that are very concerned with perpetuating quality welding education here at ISU,” Treasure said.
Other than the scholarship, the Barclay family continues to provide the department with knowledge about welding. When the scholarship was donated, Barclay’s grandsons spent time providing the department with guidance in what is going on in the field and what areas to focus on when training students.
“There’s not a lot of scholarships out there. Through their contributions it is more possible for a lot of these kids to pursue their education. Every bit contributed really matters,” Treasure said.
The purpose of the scholarship is to provide funding for the continuing education of welders-in-training. The department is seeing a lot of great talent coming into the program and would hate to lose them because the student could not afford to go to school.
Treasure expressed his gratitude toward the Barclay family.
“It’s admirable that someone that gave so much to the training and teaching of students and development of the program and in the latter part of their life wants to keep giving. They’re great people. I can’t say enough good about them. They gave a lot and continue to give.”
