Scholarships are strongly sought out by college students today and usually the larger the award amount, the more challenging it is to obtain it. However, Eastern Michigan University sociology major Brett Zeuner, managed to land himself a federal fellowship in his field of study that has awarded him with a $50,000 scholarship from the Environmental Protection Agency.
Zeuner transferred to EMU from Schoolcraft College and in addition to majoring in sociology is also double minoring in sustainability and mathematics with a concentration in statistics. He said that had heard about the scholarship through an email he received from the interdisciplinary Environmental Science and Society program. The EPA Greater Research Opportunities Fellowship was on their list of scholarship opportunities and he decided to apply for that one in particular because the $50,000 award stood out to him.
To meet all application requirements, Zeuner said he “…had to complete a lengthy, complicated grant application for the fellowship. The final application document ended up being about 12 pages long.”
Upon finding out that he was granted this scholarship, Zeuner said, “I just started crying and thanking whatever is up there for bringing this opportunity to light. It was a very powerful, moving experience.”
He has immense support from his family and friends. After officially being awarded the scholarship, the Facebook status he posted officially announcing his award received roughly 400 likes.
“Not that a Facebook status really shows the support and love I’ve received, but to be congratulated by 400 people on social media was pretty exciting,” he said.
Zeuner applied for the scholarship in May of 2015 and did not hear word that be was selected for the award until November of that year.
Upon asking how this scholarship and fellowship has impacted his life, Zeuner is most happy that he is given an opportunity to focus on his academics and fully commit to his research. “Before receiving this scholarship, I was working about 30 hours a week in food service while going to school full time,” said Zeuner in a brief Q & A.
For assistance on looking for scholarships to apply for, visit EMU’s scholarship home page to get started.
