Paul Eaton will
have earned three degrees from Salt Lake Community College by the time he
graduates at the end of 2018 – and it is thanks, in part, to hustling for
scholarship money.
Eaton’s latest
financial achievement for college was being named a 2018 New Century Workforce
Pathway Scholar, a $1,250 return on his investment of the time and energy he
spent pursuing the award. SLCC is also sending Eaton to New York in October for
the Association of Community College Trustees Leadership Congress to accept the
award in person.
New Century
Workforce Pathway Scholars are selected based on their academic
accomplishments, leadership, activities and how they extend their intellectual
talents beyond the classroom. More than 2,000 students were nominated from more
than 1,600 college campuses across the country. Only one New Century Workforce
Pathway Scholar was selected from each state. The scholarship program is
designed encourage college completion and student success as they prepare to
enter the workforce.
Eaton, 38, decided
after his father’s death in 2016 to leave a job he didn’t like in the banking
industry to pursue something in construction. One of the first classes he took at SLCC was a course on how to frame a home. “It was the most fun I had in
years,” Eaton says.
Due in part to many
early-morning homework sessions while at his office in South Jordan – he didn’t
want to wake his wife and children at home in Kearns – Eaton has earned good
grades and bagged four scholarships. He is one semester away from earning
associate degrees in construction management, general studies and history.
For each of the
scholarships Eaton has received, he has had to fill out application forms,
write multiple essays and secure letters of recommendation. Once he figured out
how easy it was to apply for scholarships, “I applied for as many scholarships
as I could,” he says.
Eaton adds his
academic path at SLCC was the “foot in the door” he needed to secure a job as a
code compliance inspector with South Jordan City so he could work while going
to school. He hopes the degrees from SLCC will help him move up in his current
career, and he plans to continue his education at the College by taking courses
related to genealogy.
The New Century
Workforce Pathway Scholars Program is sponsored by The Coca-Cola Foundation,
the soft drink company’s philanthropic arm, and Phi Theta Kappa, an honor
society recognizing the achievements of college students and their growth as
scholars and leaders.