“When I applied to college in my senior year at Dos Pueblos High School, Yale was my first choice. I just had my heart set on it,” recalled Connie Wang. “It had always been my dream school.”

But Connie’s dream did not distract her from reality. “The price tag of a Yale education is truly astounding,” Connie commented. And the thought of the potential financial burden for her family weighed heavily on her.

Connie applied to the Scholarship Foundation seeking financial assistance for her academic goals. As she was ranked first in her class with a 4.93 grade point average and had extremely high standardized test scores, she was selected for the Towbes Foundation Honors Scholarship. She received the scholarship for all four of her years at Yale.

“I always felt like Mr. Towbes was personally invested in my academic career, my intellectual pursuits, and my life in general,” Connie shared. Mr. Towbes is known for inviting his scholarship recipients out to lunch during their summer breaks, and Connie remembers one in particular. Mr. Towbes included his daughter, a clinical psychologist who works with children and families. “It was so thoughtful, as her profession was a perfect match for my interests.”

The Towbes Foundation Honors Scholarship allowed Connie to focus fully on her academic pursuits, as well as to participate in extracurricular activities, like being the managing editor of Amicus (Yale’s undergraduate law review) and an intern for the Yale Law Journal, without worrying about a financial burden. “I hope that one day, as a result of my college education, I will be able to give back to the community just as Mr. Towbes has done,” she commented.

Since the scholarship also provided her with the opportunity to volunteer in the New Haven, Connecticut community, tutoring students through New Haven Reads and helping homeless people find jobs and housing, it seems that Connie is well on her way to following Mr. Towbes’ philanthropic example.

Connie graduated from Yale in May, and will take a year off to work as a research fellow in order to broaden her sense of the legal field and explore a different area of the law. But she still plans to follow her heart—public interest law with a focus on children’s rights and disadvantaged youth.

“I would not be the person I am today without the privilege of attending Yale,” Connie concluded. “And I wouldn’t have been able to do that without Mr. Towbes’ support.”