"I CANNOT EXPRESS HOW MUCH SCHOLARSHIPS HAVE HELPED ME"

So says Phoebe Moore, a the College at Oneonta Foundation junior from Saratoga Springs, New York, majoring in family and consumer science education. Phoebe works hard and is focused on her academics, and it shows: she has a cumulative GPA of 3.75 on a 4.0 scale.

"I chose to attend the College at Oneonta Foundation because I heard only great things about it and its education department. The campus is beautiful and the students are focused on their educational advancement like I am.

"Receiving scholarships means that I don't have to take out a loan for college, which is a lot less stress for my mom and me," Phoebe says. "I know how hard my mom works every day, so it just makes sense to me that I work really hard in school and earn scholarships so that she has one less thing to worry about."

Phoebe receives scholarships, work study, and a Teach Grant to help fund her education. She is the recipient of the Dr. William Pietraface and Marjorie Miller-Pietraface Scholarship—established by the retired the College at Oneonta Foundation biology professor and his wife—and the Katherine Tobey Scholarship. Each of these scholarships was created to benefit students with financial need. Phoebe and her family met the Pietrafaces at the annual scholarship dinner in fall 2011.

"My dad was there when we met them, and he said a couple times how nice they were and how much he enjoyed going to the scholarship dinner. I cannot express enough how scholarships have helped me ... none of my successes here would be possible without them. I was actually surprised when I saw Dr. Pietraface around campus and he recognized me and asked me how I was doing. It made me feel like I'm not doing this by myself. I have lots of people who are rooting for me to succeed in college."