STEM Senior Connor Railsback has been awarded The Daniels Scholarship, which offers a comprehensive, four-year college scholarship that provides financial and personal support focused on helping Daniels Scholars succeed in college, and in life.
Each year, Daniels Scholars are selected from a four-state region including Colorado, New Mexico, Utah, and Wyoming. According to The Daniels Scholarship website, the scholars have attended more than 400 colleges and universities in 48 states.
“I guess I first got on their radar because of my sister,” said Railsback. “My sister Nicole, who is two years older than me, actually got The Daniels Fund as well when she graduated, and she also graduated through STEM and referenced me to The Daniels Fund, and that’s how I first got on their radar.”
From that point on, Railsback said he worked hard to go through the process, knowing that the scholarship was highly competitive, with over 2,000 applicants this year alone.
“So, the initial step was a group of three essays, fairly short essays this year, partially due to COVID-19 pandemic,” Railsback said. “One was about leadership. The other was about scholastic activities, and then one about activities outside of school. After those three essays, the next step was determining your scholastic success, like GPA, test scores, and stuff like that, and then on to interviews.”
Railsback can think of a few different reasons as to why he was selected for the scholarship. He participates in a number of sports including hockey and lacrosse, he volunteers at churches and also does a lot of volunteering with his Boy Scout Troop where he has improved parks and trails as part of his Eagle project.
Railsback plans to attend Colorado School of Mines, where he plans to study both medicine and engineering. To see Railsback’s full interview, watch the video below.