Taylor Hellenbrand

While some of our scholarship winners have moved on to bigger cities, out of state, or traveled the world, Taylor Hellenbrand has been a constant familiar face in the Marshall community as part of the friendly team of helpful hardware folks at Ace Hardware in Marshall.

Taylor responded to the questions that were asked of all of our former scholarship winners. Taylor graduated from Marshall High School in 2007 and attended Madison Area Technical College for three years.

 How did the scholarship you received help you? 

"The scholarship I received from the Marshall Scholarship Foundation was an amazing help at the time.  It took a lot of the financial pressure off of my mind and allowed me to focus more on learning instead of on how I was going to pay for all the expenses of college. I will always be grateful for the generosity of the community and the scholarship foundation."

Did any of your plans change?

"I originally went to school in the accounting program but quickly figured out that was not for me. I then transitioned into the finance and real estate programs, which were a much better fit for my personality."

What degrees did you receive?

"After 3 years of schooling I received degrees in Finance and Real Estate

along with getting my real estate sales license."

Where are you living and working now and what do you do? 

"I currently live in Marshall with my wife Kayla, and two daughters. We spend a lot of our time growing and managing our rental properties and working at the family hardware store in Marshall."

What advice would you give Marshall High School graduates? 

Taylor responded with this advice, "Never stop moving forward, take chances, always keep learning and bettering yourself and the people around you. Take care of the little things and the big things will take care of themselves."

Marshall Scholarship Foundation congratulates Taylor on his degrees from MATC and the success he has had in reaching his goals. We wish him and his family well as he continues to be a familiar face in our Marshall community. We are happy that we were able to help him reach his goals as a scholarship recipient in 2007.

 

Corey Foster

We were able to contact former scholarship recipient Corey Foster who graduated from Marshall High School in 2006 and was awarded $500 from the Marshall Scholarship Foundation. Corey went to UW Oshkosh and received a Bachelor's degree in Psychology with Business and Spanish Minors in 2010. Then she worked for a few years and went back to UW Oshkosh for grad school and received a Master's degree in Professional Counseling with an emphasis in Student Affairs and College Counseling.

Corey shared that she received multiple scholarships totaling over $2000 in 2006 and that "the scholarships I received definitely helped reduce the cost of tuition for me and my family the first year of college. I am extremely grateful and appreciative of the scholarships I received."

Plans often change as we grow and mature and Corey said, "When I first started at UW-Oshkosh going for my bachelor's degree, I was declared Education. I quickly learned I was really undecided and ended up changing my major a total of 4 times. As I took more courses and learned more about the different majors, it took some time to find where my interests and passions were. I fell in love with Psychology and finally decided on that major."

Corey has lived and traveled around the globe.  She told MSF, "I have lived in Georgia (Atlanta area), Texas (Dallas area), and Wisconsin. I have been blessed with many opportunities to travel internationally and study abroad. (Canada, Mexico, England, Costa Rica, South Africa, Spain, France, Brazil, India)

In high school at Marshall, I studied abroad in England with the Color Experience program. I also studied abroad in Costa Rica with the Spanish department. 

In undergrad, I studied abroad in Brazil for a Cross-Cultural Psychology course, conducting and presenting research. We lived with host families for a month in Salvador, Brazil, with weekend trips to nearby locations. In grad school, I studied abroad in India for a course titled Exploring Counseling, Culture, and Spirituality in India. We spent time in New Delhi, Varanasi, and Agra. I have also traveled for fun to France, Spain, and South Africa. 

Corey is currently working at UW Oshkosh as an Academic Advisor for TRIO Student Support Services (SSS). TRIO SSS is a program that provides services to first generation and low-income students. First generation college students are students who neither parent has earned a four-year bachelor's degree. I work with first gen and low-income students through advising, coaching, and programming to help them be successful in college. 

When asked what advice Corey would give Marshall High School graduates, she said, "Try new things and get involved. There is so much out there to learn about (careers, majors, people, places, cultures, etc.). Try new things and explore to find where your true interests and passions are. Get involved in your community! If you go to college, get involved on campus, in clubs, sports, intramurals, and organizations. Never stop trying new things; you never know what you will discover. You will definitely discover more about yourself, and may discover a new career opportunity, a new passion, a new friend, a new community, a new skill, and so much more. 

Marshall Scholarship Foundation is proud to congratulate Corey on all that she has achieved since her graduation from Marshall High School!  We continue to wish Corey 'Happy Travels.' As the Dr. Seuss book titled "Oh, the Places You'll Go" begins, "You have brains in your head. You have feet in your shoes. You can steer yourself any direction you choose".  We are happy to have helped Corey reach her goals as a scholarship recipient, and excited to have this update on "where is she now?" Congratulations Corey on all that you have achieved since your graduation from Marshall High School! 

Kristina Kleinschmidt 

We were able to contact former scholarship recipient Kristina Kleinschmidt, who graduated from Marshall High School in 2007 and was awarded the Roelof and Wilma Kraak Family Scholarship. Kristina attended University of Wisconsin-Madison and graduated with a Bachelor of Science in Journalism and a Certificate in Business.

In addition to the Roelof and Wilma Kraak Family Scholarship facilitated by Marshall Scholarship Foundation, Kristina recalls that she may have received about nine other scholarships. The scholarships she received helped ease the burden of supporting herself through college with minimal help from her parents. She worked two or three jobs while attending the university. Her hard work was worth it, as Kristina reported that she has just recently celebrated making her final student loan payment!

Even with limited resources, Kristina was able to take advantage of an opportunity to study abroad for three months in Sydney Australia. She did some traveling through Australia while she was there. Afterward, Kristina flew to New Zealand and traveled and lived out of a van for 2 1/2 weeks.

Sometimes plans change and Kristina said, "I changed my major three different times; luckily I had not officially declared, so it made it easier, but it did mean that I had to take an extra year and finished in five years rather than four". She started out as an art major with an end goal in graphic design. Kristina then pursued entering the Business School and finally entered the Journalism School. She graduated from the university in 2012, having followed the Strategic Communications track. 

Since then Kristina has applied that degree working in advertising. She has worked at three different ad agencies in the Milwaukee area. She now works at an ad agency located in Milwaukee's Third Ward, about a half-mile from the Summerfest grounds. Kristina reported that she is involved in Client Services and helps manage communication between her firm's clients and the internal staff. 

Kristina has continued to travel, having visited numerous states around the country. She said, "it is our goal to visit all of the national parks". Kristina lived in Montana for two years via a fantastic work opportunity; she helped open an office in Helena. She said that her and her boyfriend,Trevor are hoping to get back out west in the next year or two. 

For now, Kristina lives just on the border of Milwaukee and Wauwatosa, Wisconsin. She works part-time at a spin studio, and has recently become a certified Lesmills Bodypump instructor, and has also set a goal to run 1,000 miles this year. Kristina says, "I participate non-competitively with my dog Koda in agility workshops, and we try to get out hiking and camping as much as possible. We're also big gardeners and enjoy road biking". 

When asked what advice Kristina would give Marshall High School graduates, she said, "Set big goals and make a realistic plan for how to hit them. If you find out as you're reaching for those dreams that they're not quite what you thought, try to pinpoint what is missing from reality vs. what you envisioned and possibly reset how you're framing the goal or how you're achieving it. If it still doesn't feel right, you can always set new goals!!" 

Marshall Scholarship Foundation wishes Kristina Kleinschmidt happy travels. As the Dr. Seuss book titled "Oh, the Places You'll Go" begins, "You have brains in your head. You have feet in your shoes. You can steer yourself any direction you choose".  We are happy to have helped Kristina reach her goals as a scholarship recipient, and excited to have this update on "where is she now?" Congratulations, Kristina on all that you have achieved since your graduation from Marshall High School! 

Anyone interested in volunteering with or donating to Marshall Scholarship Foundation is encouraged to contact PresidentMarshallSF@gmail.com or any Marshall Scholarship Foundation board member.