Natali Mladenovik update; Continuing Scholarship

Natali Mladenovik is a 2019 Continuing Scholarship recipient.  She qualified to apply by earning the 2018 Kuchenmeister Family Scholarship awarded at Romeo HS Honors night 2018.  Natali was unable to attend this year’s fundraiser, due to her intense work schedule, as she self-funds her education.  Below is an update from Natali, who certainly epitomizes the inspired, hardworking, principled kind of student this foundation looks to reward.

 

Natali mladenovik, with Grant

I have officially completed my first year at Oakland University. School has been busy between my courses and work, but nonetheless rewarding. My grade point average is now at 3.78, which I only aspire to raise. I am following the OU 3+3 program, which allows me to graduate a year ahead of my peers and be admitted directly into a law school. This summer I have enrolled full time to further persist my education, this will then in total put me a year and one semester ahead of my graduating class. I am actively searching for an internship next winter and seeking research opportunities. I am a member of Pi Sigma Alpha and Alpha Lambda Delta. I have put off clubs my first year to build up my grade point average and focus on my courses. I am already preparing myself for my Law Schools Admissions Tests, by having taken a practice one ran by Wayne State Law and my own independent studies. The Kuchenmeister Scholarship, as well as Oakland University, have presented me with plentiful opportunities which I am gratefully pursuing. Without the kind help offered by the foundation, I would not have otherwise been able to take as many classes and seek the full potential of my first year as a college student. I continue to praise God for having blessed me with the kindness of the Kuchenmeister family and the motivation to strive above dreams, my family and I are eternally grateful for this opportunity.

LCN 2019 Honors Night

L’anse Creuse North Honors night proved to be exciting for both (Downtown) Parker Brown and Rock Kuchenmeister, as Parker becomes the first LCN graduate to receive a Sandbox Foundation grant (the Wayne Scholarship).  Foundation advisors Rock & Cheryl met in the halls of LCN forty years ago, dispelling the Thomas Wolfe quote “You can’t go home again”.

Parker Brown, LCN Sandbox Foundation Wayne Scholarship 2019
Parker Brown, LCN Sandbox Foundation Wayne Scholarship 2019

 

Parker will be studying Computer Science, Criminal Justice and joining the swim team at Olivet College in September 2019.  Congratulations Parker on your Wayne Scholarship.

Spartan: Austen Malczewski’s 3rd Semester Update

My third semester of college has been an awesome learning experience, college sure seems to be going quick. Now that I have been accepted into the Business college, I am going to pursue an accounting major with an Information Technology minor. With the majority of my classes business focus, It has provided me with a much more interesting curriculum already. I have also been taking advantage of all the organizations on campus, for example, the MSU finance association and the Accounting Student Association (ASA).Austin at State
The biggest difference between this year and last year has been all the extra curricular activities I have taken up in my free time. With such a big campus at MSU, I have had to find a way to make it a little smaller… once you start exploring there’s so many ways to condense campus. For the Honors College at MSU I joined a book club where I read books of my choosing with a group of other Honors students on Tuesday nights, this has allowed me to learn a ton about good books and also allowed me to meet some really good people.
Lately, most of my time has been directed towards research on a possible invention I have. Just this last month I started an LLC for this new company and I ordered a Provisional Patent on my Idea. The best part of this idea is that I found an organization on campus that Is funded by Alumni, who have agreed to help pay for my legal fees, patents, and other costs I may incur building Prototypes and what not, without a catch or giving up any equity in the company. I entered a competition (Burgess New Venture Challenge) put on for MSU students with my idea and If I place top 5 I could be granted potential funding, I will keep you posted on this.
I have also made great strides in wrestling, I was awarded my varsity letter-man jacket at the beginning of the semester, which was a super cool experience. I have also taken 3rd place at the MSU open tournament, and Ohio Intercollegiate open tournament with a record of (9-2) over the last two weekends.
I want to thank you for the continued scholarship this year, It has helped me out tremendously. As a student who is responsible for paying for his own college experience, I constantly remind myself how fortunate I am to receive this Sandbox Foundation Scholarship.

Kuchenmeister Family Scholarship

The Kuchenmeister Family Scholarship is awarded annually to a Romeo High School (RHS) senior pursuing further education.  The grant was first awarded in 1999 and continues to this day.  Applications for the Kuchenmeister Family Scholarship must be submitted through the RHS Counseling office.

The grant is funded by local residents Rock & Cheryl Kuchenmeister and is administered by the RHS Scholarship Fund of the RHS Counseling office, using predefined selection criteria of the family.

Though not specifically linked to the Sandbox Foundation, all of the most recent five recipients of the Kuchenmeister Family Scholarship are also eligible to apply for the Sandbox Foundation Continuing Scholarship, upon completing one semester of supplemental education.

The past five recipients were:

2016 Serena Salsido
2017 Jacob Mullin
2018 Natalia Mladenovik
2019 Kayla Owens
2020 Andrew Selewski