The generosity from others helped fuel Trey Boger’s UCCS education, and he is grateful for the support.
For Boger, finances were the main barrier standing in his way of attending college, but he received two UCCS scholarships that helped him remove that barrier.
The Kane scholarship and the Chancellor’s Leadership Class scholarship cemented Boger’s dream to have a lucrative career helping people, and his business management degree is preparing him to succeed.
“I was completely amazed to learn I received these awards and now I could finally pursue my dreams at UCCS,” said Boger. “I could not have imagined a better university to attend.”
Before being awarded two UCCS scholarships, Boger faced some challenging decisions. He could not afford to stay in school and decided to take a year off.
“The main barrier that stood in my way of going to college was finances,” he said. “My parents made too much money for me to receive federal financial aid and I made the difficult decision to take a year off from school and put my dreams on hold to find a job and save money.”
During that year off, Boger worked for a local HVAC company and took some online classes with a community college in hopes to return to UCCS and continue pursuing his college dream that following year.
“After that year of hard work and persistence, I was completely shocked to open the mail and learn that I had been awarded both the Kane scholarship and had an offer to join the Chancellor’s Leadership Class,” Boger said.
He remained determined and now he will soon be the first in his family to graduate college with a bachelor’s degree.
“Neither of my parents attended college until later in life and I’m proud that I will be the first in my family to graduate,” he said.
Boger’s eagerness to obtain a business management degree and his motivation has helped him realize his dreams are within reach.
When asked what advice he has for students like himself, Boger shared: “Work as hard as you can and become as involved as you can, because the connections you make and relationships you build can open so many doors.”
The path to a degree for Boger was met with obstacles and challenges along the way; however, support from scholarships and the UCCS community has given Boger the confidence he needed to make his dream a reality.
“The family atmosphere at UCCS is something truly special and the generosity of donors is unmatched,” he said. “I hope to be able to contribute to a scholarship fund in the future, so students like me continue to have the opportunity to pursue their dreams.”