POWER provides opportunities, hope

Sending non-traditional female students back to school is the message and goal for female legislators of Indiana’s general assembly.

Together, Democratic and Republican women legislators have created the Political Organization for Women’s Education and Representation scholarship program. For more than a decade, POWER has helped female students 25 years and older either go to college for the first time or return after a hiatus.

“It was designed to help women in Indiana who want to invest in their future through education,” press secretary for the General Assembly Peg McLeish said.

By raising money through fundraisers, POWER is able to provide a $1,000 and $750 scholarship in each of the nine congressional districts in Indiana.

“It is something to encourage them, empower them and help them in some practical way to pursue their dreams and their goals,” Rep. Peggy Welch, D-Bloomington, said.

This year, one of the fundraisers auctioned off an opportunity to skydive, which was purchased by an Indiana lobbyist and immediately returned to the POWER organization with an eye on using the gift to raise even more money.

There was a catch, however – Welch had to skydive.

She said when she first heard the proposal, she “said ‘Are you trying to get rid of me?’”

Welch agreed to the idea and made the jump Friday at Skydive Greensburg, all in the name of furthering education.

“We know that most jobs today require some type of secondary education,” Welch said. “They need more education to find a good paying job.”

Whether these women stopped going to school because they got married, had kids or never attended college in the first place, the scholarships make college and vocational schools a more viable and realistic option.

Few know this better than Sara Burnett.

As a wife and mother, Burnett had never attended college. She was working at Walmart when she decided to go against the grain – she wanted to return to school.
“I never felt satisfied,” Burnett said. “As my children got older, I now thought it was about me fulfilling my dream.”

Burnett began taking courses at Ivy Tech Community College, constantly battling the possibility that she might not be able to afford to return for each subsequent semester. But in 2007, she unexpectedly received a helping hand.

At the age of 41, Burnett won a POWER scholarship and was given the boost she needed.

“There were many times I didn’t know if I was going to be able to go back,” Burnett said. “I got this scholarship and it enabled me to go back to school.”

But the scholarship did more than just let Burnett continue her studies.

“It gave me the courage to go on,” she said.

Having graduated and been employed as a nurse, Burnett could not be more grateful.
“They helped enable me to reach that dream that I had,” she said, “and I really don’t know where I’d be without them to help me to continue on.”

Receiving the scholarship also taught her a very valuable lesson.

“Don’t give up,” Burnett said. “Never, ever give up.”