Congratulations to our 2020-2021 Recipient. ($2,000)
This year, the $2,000 scholarship was made possible, in part, through a matching grant from the AIA Component Scholarship Program.
I would like to thank the AIA Amarillo Chapter for giving me the AIA Amarillo Chapter Scholarship. I am going into my last semester of undergrad, as a Fourth Year at Texas Tech, and the money from your scholarship will allow me to pay for the remainder of my time at Texas Tech.
I am a member of the Amarillo community and graduated from Amarillo High School back in 2017. It was during my time at Amarillo High that I took a drafting class and was introduced to the amazing world of architecture. During my time at Texas Tech I have been a member of the Chi Omega: Kappa Zeta Chapter and have served in many leadership positions within the chapter, as well as being apart of Tau Sigma Delta and I am currently the Vice President of AIAS for the 2020-2021 School Year. Last summer I had the pleasure of working at Shiver-Megert and Assoc. in Amarillo and thoroughly enjoyed the time I spent there. My experience there allowed me to learn more about architecture and how architects work in an office setting to accomplish their goals. This past Spring Semester I had the privilege of studying abroad in Sevilla, Spain and had plans to study abroad this summer in Montreal. I intend to graduate in December of 2020 and hope to work at a firm, learning as much as I can about the discipline and beginning my NCARB hours before beginning a graduate program.
I am the youngest of three girls and the daughter of a Mechanical Engineer, who used to work at Zachry Engineering and the money from this scholarship is more appreciated than you could ever know. My father was laid off from Zachry at the beginning of my collegiate journey and the fiscal sacrifices my parents have had to make on my behalf to allow me to complete the education I desired are immense. This scholarship means very much to me because it has allowed me to pay them back a sum of what they have invested in me. Thank you so much for investing in me and my future and I cannot wait until I am able to give back to the Amarillo community.
Thank You,
Grace Ann Shanks