Seawolf Opportunity Scholarship recipient profile: Eagle Alldredge

Eagle Alldredge moved to Alaska as a young boy. He remembers thinking as he grew up that his dream job would just drop in his lap and he would get carried around the world to do his great work. That's just not reality, though, and Alldredge learned how difficult life can be as he struggled through some tough times. He said, "There wasn't a whole lot I could do without a college education and still get to enjoy what I do." Thankfully, he had a couple of great guides in his dad and brothers who showed him that he could make it through whatever life threw at him. His oldest brother especially set a good example and taught him that there is more out there, particularly if he pursued higher education.

Alldredge learned he could become an Emergency Medical Technician (EMT) with a 45-day course and was struck with how he could do so much for people after so short a training period. Alldredge said, "It's neat how you can really get out of yourself, forget about yourself for an hour while working as an EMT. CPR is one of the scariest but coolest things I've ever done." After a couple of years, however, he realized he would need to continue his training to advance in the profession.

Wanting more for himself and his family, Alldredge aspires to be a flight nurse. He enrolled at UAA and took a part-time job working in an accounting office where he was transferred and under continual pressure to work 50-hour weeks, including spending time there on his weekends. He was spending too much time away from his family, especially his one-year-old daughter. Although he worked with some wonderful people and was thankful to have such a great job, he just felt it wasn't right for him. "Human interaction is so important to me and I was missing out on a significant part of my daughter's life. I had just decided to put in my two-week notice at work and resigned myself to struggle with student loans. I got the letter I'd received the SOS scholarship the next day. "

Seeing the scholarship as a great opportunity, Alldredge is anxious to finish his prerequisite classes and apply to UAA's School of Nursing. He hopes to spend a few years after school working in an emergency room and then apply for flight nurse training. With so much school in his future, Alldredge is very happy to be an SOS recipient. "This SOS has helped me a great deal being able to be in my daughter's life," said Alldredge.

The Seawolf Opportunity Scholarship is the result of the generous anonymous $7M gift that UAA received in the spring of 2009. Conditions of the gift stated that the majority of the money was to be used for student scholarships, particularly benefiting women and minorities. The $6M designated for scholarships enabled UAA to establish an endowment to provide needs-based scholarships to students.

This new needs-based scholarship will be awarded incrementally, up to four years, for students working toward an associate's or baccalaureate degree from UAA. This special feature is designed to provide an incentive and reward to students who persist in their studies toward a degree. Recipients of the Seawolf Opportunity Scholarship will receive money for tuition and housing or childcare each year -- all very important for student success.

This donation has already had a significant impact on the lives of UAA's students; 50 students have been awarded this special scholarship for the 2009-10 academic year. Here's the story of one of our outstanding scholarship recipients.