Giselle Fuentes at Graduation

Traveling all the way from Staten Island, New York, Giselle Fuentes was attracted to Northwestern’s reputation for academic excellence and the rigorous journalism program at Medill School of Journalism. What she didn’t expect, however, was the gracious reception she was given.

"When I came to visit, everyone was just so warm and welcoming," Fuentes recently explained – four years after that heartening first impression – at an Northwestern Alumni Association-sponsored picnic for recent graduates on the East Lawn of Norris University Center.

"Everyone knows that Medill is the best journalism school in the country," she added, "but you also have this massive Northwestern family that’s always looking out for you."

Fuentes soon found out the benefits of her "massive Northwestern family" weren’t at all limited to current students and faculty. In fact, Northwestern donors proved to be some of her greatest allies.

"I received a John Evans Club Scholarship and a May Downey Fletcher Scholarship," says Fuentas. "Scholarships like those allowed me to focus on academics, rather than worry about how I was going to pay for school. Without them, I couldn’t have excelled in the classroom like I did, because I would have been working so much."

The Fuentes Family

When donors contribute to the Northwestern University Annual Fund, they providez scholarship opportunities for current and future students, enabling them to get the most out of their studies so they can be prepared to succeed – whatever their future vocation might be.

Although Fuentes thrived at Medill, her focus on legal reporting led her to a passion for justice, so she’s now attending law school at Howard University and pursuing a career as an attorney. Whether she’s at her new home in Washington, DC, her hometown in Staten Island, or her college home in Evanston, Fuentes is passionate about retaining a strong relationship with Northwestern.

"Northwestern alumni have helped me out so much – in fact, an alumna who also attended Howard Law is giving me her old textbooks so I don’t have to buy new ones – it makes sense for me to want to give back, too. I feel very close to the school, and I want that to continue."

Give online, give by mail, or contact the Office of Annual Giving at annual-giving@northwestern.edu, or (800) 222-5603 to find out more about how you can support the Northwestern Annual Fund.