Jess Wallace is pursuing a Master of Fine Arts degree, a necessary step for raising the earning potential in a competitive theater design field and opening doors for her to make her own design decisions, add to her portfolio, and potentially teach at the university level. However, with limited scholarship funds available and student stipends too small to cover rent for her family of four, the decision to pursue a graduate degree came at significant financial hardship.
"Especially as a theater student, your life is consumed with the show-making process and that takes up a lot of time,” Jess said. “It can be hard, impossible even, to be employed as a graduate student even part-time. When I'm not at the school building things or teaching, I'm at home doing homework."
Jess' typical day consists of waking up with her two kids at 6:30 a.m. and taking virtual classes throughout the day, then working several hours in the design shop until campus closes to fulfill her program requirements. She often has no time to begin homework for her courses until after returning home well after dark. While Jess receives some financial aid as well as compensation for her teaching, her search for scholarships within the program proved difficult.
It is our aim to help students pursuing their MFA degree give their full energy to their academic programs without taking on the burden of financial hardship. Jess and many others like her benefit immensely from our alumni’s charitable support. We hope you'll consider aiding these students on their way to their future successes.