Welcome back!

We're ready to kick off our summer and we hope you are too.

Read on for some WSOS news and updates!

The Washington State Opportunity Scholarship (WSOS) is 10 years old! WSOS was created a decade ago by our state's leaders to respond to a talent shortage and the belief that post-secondary education and training should be accessible to all Washington residents.

We're Hiring

WSOS continues to expand our team in order to serve more Scholars and ensure a supportive Scholar experience. Check out our open roles:

Data & Systems Manager
Senior Major Gifts Officer
Database Manager

To read about these roles and share with your network, visit our website.

Scholastic Boonabaana: inspiring future Scholars

Scholastic recently graduated from her dental assisting program and is working full-time to save enough money to study to become a dental hygienist.

I am a married mother of two, originally from Uganda, where I received a bachelor's degree in hotel and hospitality management. I had my second child right before quarantine started. I was home for that first year, but I really wanted to go back to school. I love having clean teeth and was excited about cleaning teeth, but the dental hygiene program was very expensive. I chose to start a dental assistant program and started my pre-requisite courses online during the pandemic. I was always bugging my school's financial aid office, especially Alexander, my advisor. He would send me all the scholarship info he could. He sent me the info about WSOS. I wish I could send him flowers. When I got the email that I was selected for the scholarship, I screenshotted it and sent it to my mom in Uganda.

Read Scholastic's story

Gary Rubens Gives Back

Gary and Jennifer Rubens have had a transformational impact on the lives of thousands of Washingtonians. Their most recent investment in WSOS has the power to do the same for another generation of Washington students. Thank you, Gary and Jennifer, for being critical partners in WSOS' success over our first decade!

At 18, Gary had to turn down an offer to attend Washington State University because his family didn't have the means to pay for his tuition. That's why Gary and Jennifer have invested so much into breaking the cycle of intergenerational poverty through access to higher education—to ensure future students have the opportunity that wasn't available to him.

Gary received his bachelor's degree from WSU this year! "I've personally experienced what it feels like when the cost of college is just too high to overcome," said Gary. "I want to remove the barriers that keep too many of our students, families and communities away from jobs and opportunity in our state."

In our previous enewsletter, we mentioned our mentorship program, Skills that Shine. We'll be putting out the call for volunteers to mentor our Scholars this summer. Make sure to stay tuned for that opportunity!

LinkedIn group makes connections

LinkedIn is a great place to network and find career opportunities. But what if you don't know how to maximize your use of the platform? We help Scholars learn how to use LinkedIn for their career goals—and we invite them to a group just for Opportunity Scholars and Alumni. In the group, they can learn from each other and access exclusive internships or job openings shared with us by our partners.

Jenny Spink is living her dream

Jenny was an Opportunity Scholar in our first cohort of Baccalaureate Scholars. She has served as a mentor in our Skills that Shine program. We recently caught up with her to hear what she's doing now.

Growing up in western Washington, my mom was a physical therapist. I knew I wanted to be in the medical field and help people. I have always been an extrovert and wanted to work with people. My high school encouraged career development and job shadowing, which solidified my goal to go into nursing. You can do so many things with a nursing degree.

Read Jenny's story

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