{"id":35805,"date":"2026-07-08T15:30:27","date_gmt":"2026-07-08T22:30:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/inside.ewu.edu\/retirees\/?p=35805"},"modified":"2026-07-08T15:30:27","modified_gmt":"2026-07-08T22:30:27","slug":"scholarship-gives-high-achiever-a-boost","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/inside.ewu.edu\/retirees\/scholarship-gives-high-achiever-a-boost\/","title":{"rendered":"Scholarship Gives High Achiever a Boost"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>For 21-year-old Makayla Thomason, being a senior at Eastern Washington University involves juggling two part-time jobs with classes and homework.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>That burden was lightened recently when the Chewelah native was named a recipient of the EWURA Golden Eagle Scholarship. Thomason, who maintains a 3.78 GPA, learned of the award while studying abroad in Portugal.<br>\u00a0<br>&#8220;I was really honored that my application stood out to others,&#8221; says Thomason, who is earning a bachelor\u2019s degree in international business with a minor in entrepreneurship.<br>\u00a0<br>The scholarship relieved some of the financial burden, Thomason says. \u201cWorking two jobs, I feel like finances are one of the most stressful things besides grades.&#8221;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Beyond the monetary support, Thomason notes that the scholarship provided a significant psychological boost. &#8220;It just reiterates to myself that I am smart enough and that other people are supporting me in my academic journey,&#8221; she says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Thomason recently participated in business simulations in collaboration with students in Taiwan, India, Dubai, and Florida. The project, which involved developing a strategy for an international expansion of a small business, required navigating a mix of international laws, cultural differences and varying time zones. The team chose to pilot their business strategies in Brazil, using localized advertising and app-based marketing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>As she prepares to graduate in June, Thomason is considering roles ranging from working on startups and franchises to embarking on an entry-level position as an Amazon area manager.<br>The EWURA scholarship is helping to position her to make those dreams a reality.<br>\u00a0<br>\u201cIt is very generous, Thomason says. \u201cI don\u2019t think people understand how grateful I am \u2013 and I think any college student is \u2013 to receive any scholarship. It inspires me to do something after graduation to inspire other people to reach graduation.\u201d<br>\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>For 21-year-old Makayla Thomason, being a senior at Eastern Washington University involves juggling two part-time jobs with classes and homework. That burden was lightened recently when the Chewelah native was named a recipient of the EWURA Golden Eagle Scholarship. Thomason, who maintains a 3.78 GPA, learned of the award while studying abroad in Portugal.\u00a0&#8220;I was &#8230; <a title=\"Scholarship Gives High Achiever a Boost\" class=\"read-more\" href=\"https:\/\/inside.ewu.edu\/retirees\/scholarship-gives-high-achiever-a-boost\/\" aria-label=\"Read more about Scholarship Gives High Achiever a Boost\">Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":28752,"featured_media":35807,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"wpo365_audiences":[],"wpo365_private":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-35805","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-scholarship-stories"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/inside.ewu.edu\/retirees\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35805"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/inside.ewu.edu\/retirees\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/inside.ewu.edu\/retirees\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inside.ewu.edu\/retirees\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/28752"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inside.ewu.edu\/retirees\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=35805"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/inside.ewu.edu\/retirees\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35805\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":35808,"href":"https:\/\/inside.ewu.edu\/retirees\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35805\/revisions\/35808"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inside.ewu.edu\/retirees\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/35807"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/inside.ewu.edu\/retirees\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=35805"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inside.ewu.edu\/retirees\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=35805"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inside.ewu.edu\/retirees\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=35805"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}