Hubbard Scholarships Awarded at Utah State University

Five students were awarded Hubbard Family Scholarships at Utah State University for the 2005-06 year. The scholarship was created in memory of Grant Hubbard Redford and Gwennie Hubbard Redford by Ralph Hubbard Redford and Lora Bryning Redford.

 

The scholarship was established to support students who show writing promise and, perhaps, might follow in the footsteps of noted Utah State graduates and writers May Swenson and Rick Bass.

 

The awards are presented to outstanding juniors and seniors at Utah State University who demonstrate deep, abiding interest in the environment, together with creative writing talent. The scholarship is administered by the College of Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences at Utah State, but it is open to all upper division students at the university.

 

Recipients of the 2005-06 scholarships are Heather S. Hunsaker, a double major in English literature and theatre; Shauna Leavitt, a journalism and communication major with an emphasis in print journalism; Larinda Peterson, a landscape architecture and environmental planning major; Chelsi Sutton, an English major; and Amanda Townsend, an environmental studies major.

 

These students were selected as Hubbard scholarship recipients for their interest and ability in creative writing, including the areas of poetry, fiction and creative nonfiction. Candidates submitted portfolios that were reviewed by the scholarship selection committee prior to the award. This year's recipients will each receive a $3,000 scholarship to be used next academic year.

 

"The generosity of the Hubbard family has enabled us to award five scholarships this year," said selection committee Chair Christine Hult. "There were many fine applicants, and it was gratifying to be able to offer scholarship support to five very deserving students from majors as diverse as English, theatre, journalism, landscape architecture and environment and society."

 

Heather Hunsaker moved to the Burley, Idaho, area early in her life. She said she enjoyed growing up in a small area and was active in many creative pursuits while enjoying academically challenging courses. When she began her studies at Utah State she decided on a major in the arts.  "I feel they are such a vital part of American culture and need to be studied and enhanced," she said.

 

She shares her love of English with others at the Writing Center, where she works, and her ultimate dream is to become a Broadway playwright.

 

Shauna Leavitt is a Utah native but grew up in Alberta, Canada, where she eventually worked in the Canadian oil and gas industry. "It was through this experience that I began to understand how fragile the ecosystem is," she said. "Each business and individual must have an increased commitment to protecting the environment while furthering economic progress."

 

Leavitt moved to Utah in 1996 and works for the College of Natural Resources while completing her degree. Following graduation she said she hopes to become an influential writer of environmental issues and the world's cultures in an effort to help preserve the Earth's fragile ecosystem and rich heritage.

 

Larinda Peterson is a native of Portland, Ore., where she said she had a great appreciation for beautiful plants, lush vegetation and native wildlife. "It instilled in me a great respect for the natural environment," she said.

 

She has been a gardener since an early age, attempting to recreate her own perfect landscape. Peterson also became interested in the arts, including painting, design, writing and photography, she said. Following marriage and travels in Europe, she said she was able to witness the wealth of history and beauty of ancient cities. "These experiences have helped me with my schooling in landscape architecture by driving me to work toward only quality designs and strive to be the best in my field."

 

Chelsi Sutton was born on the Snake River plain of southeastern Idaho, where she enjoyed nature and spent much of her childhood exploring the riverbeds and forests near her home. Academic excellence was a priority, and she graduated high school with honors. She volunteered as an English teacher in Moscow, Russia, for six months, then returned to the United States and began her education at Utah State. "Upon completing a nature writers course my first semester at USU, I knew I wanted to continue my studies in creative writing, and I declared I was an English major on Shakespeare’s birthday."

 

Sutton has had poetry published in the university's literary publication Scribendi and will be a Rhetoric Associate next year.

 

Amanda Townsend said her personal life closely follows her relationship with the land. As a child she moved to southern Utah, where she said she became "completely bonded with the red-rock country of the Mojave Desert and the Colorado Plateau."

 

She moved closer to Zion National Park and met her future husband. Living and traveling throughout the West, she became the mother to two sons. After her marriage ended she made the decision to return to school. "I decided that going back to school and majoring in environmental studies was the vehicle in which I could repay the land for shaping me into who I am today. I will graduate in spring 2006 and hope to apply my education toward finding the enigmatic balance between the needs of people and the needs of the desert."