dear donor

So at BYU-Idaho, there are academic scholarships and general scholarships for the students attending. Based on the students needs and the students academic standing these scholarships are distributed. If you all remember a few posts before, I shared that I had been a recipient of the full tuition general scholarship. This is an incredible blessing, especially with how much Jaden and I owe in medical bills right now. Now, because I was awarded with the scholarship, I was asked to write a letter to the donor's who make these scholarships possible. I was extremely humbled to be asked to write this. It touched my heart so much, that I just wanted to be able to share it with you all. It's such a blessing going to this school, and one day, when we aren't drowning in bills and we have a little to spare, I know we will give back to help someone else out. As for now, I am proud of say these are my current accomplishments, and future hopeful ones. Hope you enjoy!!

Dear Donor:

My name is Valissa Davis. I am from Ramona, California. It's an extremely small inland town in San Diego, California, and I am currently residing in Rexburg, Idaho with my husband Jaden. I enjoy being outdoors soaking up the sunlight in all forms. My favorites include frisbee golfing, hammocking, hiking, and white water rafting with friends and especially my husband. I am the oldest child in my family, and I am also the first to go to college. I am the eldest daughter of 3 for my mother and father. On April 25th, 2015, I was baptized a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, I was then endowed on May 25th, 2016 and then sealed to my husband on November 18th, 2017 in the Idaho Falls Idaho Temple.

I'm three semesters away from graduating from BYU-Idaho with a bachelors degree in Data Science and a minor in Statistics. I am really enjoying finally being apart of the upper division classes. I am starting to see a lot more of the applicability that these classes are offering me to really prepare for the workforce.

After I graduate, I hope to work as a Data Analyst for a company called doTERRA, whom I am currently doing an internship with. I have grown to truly love the company, it's mission, and the products. I can truly see my education moving myself and my family forward successfully with this company. I'm really excited to finish school strong, and see what kind of job positions I will be able to get given my degree finally in hand.

I'm extremely grateful to have been chosen for the scholarship offer through BYU-Idaho. In March I had a really bad accident skiing. I tore my ACL, my meniscus, and I shattered the bottom cartilage of my femur. I ended up having surgery during finals week of Winter semester, and I have been juggling my credits for this Spring semester amidst doctor appointments, and physical therapy. With the severity of the accident, my doctor still has yet to clear me for work, and my work unfortunately had to lay me off. It's been an extremely hard trial physically and spiritually for myself and my husband, but even more so financially. Being selected for the scholarship has been a complete blessing for my husband and I because we both can now give our education the opportunity to finish. We truly thought we were going to have to pause our educational pursuits in order to pay off all the medical bills, but because of this scholarship, we now have the opportunity to not have to worry about coming up with tuition on top of everything else. I cannot express fully just how much this means to my husband, and especially myself. Thank you.

Sincerely,

Valissa