The Creation of the Second Largest Scholarship Fund at Monterey Peninsula College is true! We are second only to CHOMP!

When asked to contribute a few paragraphs about the Gentrain Scholarship Fund, I went through my collection of old Conductors going back to October 1993 when I accepted the Chair position following Kathy Kress. All the groundwork had been done with such great efficiency.

I had no idea when I accepted the position how rewarding the whole experience would be, especially getting to meet the scholarship recipients and watching them on their path to success. Often students want the Gentrain Society to know what a thrill it is to have been chosen, and how much the recognition and the money meant to them.

The program would not have happened without the seed money from our anonymous donor. When asked why he/she came up with the idea of starting the program, this was part of the response: "Education has been so terribly important in my life because it opened a new world to me and provided avenues to an enjoyable professional life. With the GI Bill and a lot of hard work, I went from a third quarter freshman to a Phd. Even my post-doctoral work was with the help of scholarship support...

The success of the program speaks for itself. From 1991 to 1998 Gentrain Society has given away $52,000 to fifty deserving students. $14,000 of that came from our anonymous donor. The scholarship committee has just completed the interview process for the 98/99 school year and is proud to announce that we gave away $9,900 to ten students. This figure is in addition to the $52,000 mentioned above. Special thanks to all who have served on the Scholarship Committee.

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