Isabella Marusich

I am so grateful to have been awarded the VAW/VRC Merit Scholarship through Wings Over America Scholarship Foundation for the 2024-2025 school year. This scholarship not only honors the service my father gave to the country, but it also represents the commitment that the military has to its families. As the child of a Navy veteran who served for 23 years, I spent every school year moving to a different state or country. My childhood in the Navy shaped who I am as a person today, building resilience and confidence, and giving me incredible opportunities across four countries, that I would not have had otherwise. With this scholarship I will be continuing to pursue my university education in Mechanical Engineering and a minor in French Studies at Clemson University as a class of 2026 graduate. With some financial stress alleviated due to this amazing opportunity, I will not only be able to continue my education and work within my extracurriculars including the Alpha Omega Epsilon sorority, Design, Build, Fly, Silver Wings, the Society of Women Engineers, and my creative inquiry research positions on campus, but do so without additional financial burden from tuition. After I complete my degree, I plan to work in the aerospace industry and hope to work with military contracts so I can give back to the organization that gave me such an amazing view of the world. As a 2024 Wings Over America scholarship recipient of this foundation, I am humbled and honored to represent this organization in an educational setting and uphold its values while serving my community.