Encouragement from Flinn Scholar Angela Siebrecht

October 5, 2015

By Matt Ellsworth

Angela SeibrechtEach year, Flinn Scholars write letters of encouragement to the hundreds of students who start applications for the Flinn Scholarship, sharing with them reflections on their own application experience and what they’ve encountered in college. Here’s what second-year Flinn Scholar Angela Siebrecht, who attended River Valley High School in Mohave Valley, had to say.

First of all, I am extremely excited for you as you begin your journey towards the Flinn community. Just the process of sorting through your activities and accomplishments to find your true passions is incredibly rewarding, and you should be immensely proud of the fact that you‘re pursuing the experience of a lifetime. When I opened my application two years ago, I never would have dreamed that I would actually be a Flinn Scholar. I am eternally grateful that I actually saw it through and had faith in myself to accomplish it. I think you’ll find the same to be true for you, regardless of whether or not you become a Flinn Scholar.

To give you some context, I was applying from Fort Mohave, which is a small place in northwestern Arizona that nobody knows of or visits. My high school was a Title 1 school, meaning it receives extra federal aid to fund the school because a high percentage of the students live in poverty. That doesn’t lend itself to a well-developed honors program, so I came into the application process without a lot of the opportunities others had. The one thing my school did have, however, was a moderately successful debate program. Debate gave me a community that appreciated academic enthusiasm and encouraged activism and speaking out for what you believe in. Ultimately, the issues I explored in debate became the issues I discussed in my Flinn application and interviews. They are what made me the person I am today.

If you still aren’t sure who you are, who you want to be, or what you want college to mean for you, going through the Flinn application process can help. If you are 100% sure about your 30-year plan, apply for Flinn with an open mind. I entered college as a nursing major, fairly certain I was going to stick with it. Little did I know, in one year I would transition from that to pre-law, and then finally to majoring in Italian while preparing to apply for medical school. While I’m sure I would’ve ended up here without Flinn, it wouldn’t have been the same journey without this amazing community of people who understand where you’re coming from and want nothing more than to see you succeed. You owe yourself that chance and the space to discover who you really are and who you’re meant to become. I wish you all the luck in the world and hopefully I’ll be meeting you soon!

Angela Siebrecht
Class of 2014