James B. Morris Scholarship Fund
Assisting Minority Youth in Achieving Their Educational Goals
Linda Jacobo:
AIDS, safe drinking water and recalled meat have more in common than just being the topics of recent headlines. They all involve the work and discoveries of microbiologists. Someday Linda Jacobo hopes her work will be behind the headlines. Studying microbiology at Iowa State University, Jacobo navigates a world many will never see. Most of her subjects are visible only under a powerful microscopic lens and some of them could play a role in the next medical discovery.
Thanks to the James B. Morris Scholarship Fund (MSF), Jacobo is able to focus on microbes instead of whether she can pay for her college studies. Because of the MSF, the financial burden of college is one less deterrent for minority students such as Jacobo. Now she spends time on school and working at the National Animal Disease Center. "Education in general is a process of growth," says Jacobo "the MSF is exceptional help for a student in need to seek some extra help in obtaining an advanced degree."
When it comes to her post-graduate plans, Jacobo hopes to find a position in the Ames or Des Moines areas. Iowa holds a place in the hearts of Jacobo and her husband and they one day hope to have their family here.
Reflecting upon her experience with the MSF, Jacobo shares, "Obtaining a higher education is necessary for personal satisfaction and achievement, more so for persons of multicultural backgrounds. The MSF has been there to help me reach my goals and will thankfully be there for others in the future."