A gift to this unrestricted fund enables the UNO chancellor to assist when special opportunities arise or provide immediate support to areas where students and faculty may need it most.
Loni Mickles knows she has found her place at the University of Nebraska at Omaha.
The Omaha native isn’t surprised by the revelation. Her family is Maverick through and through. She’s one of five siblings who have attended UNO.
“I knew UNO was more than likely my destiny,” said Mickles, a graduate assistant in UNO’s New Student and Family Programs.
Mickles discovered her passion at UNO. Now, the university is ensuring that she has the resources she needs to continue thriving thanks to donor support to the UNO Fund – Area of Greatest Need.
The fund enables UNO Chancellor Joanne Li to provide support for special opportunities and immediate support areas. This year, Dr. Li used the funds to provide $1,000 scholarships to three UNO students.
Mickles was one of those three students. Dr. Li surprised Mickles with her scholarship during a presentation in early October.
For Mickles, the scholarship was an answered prayer.
“When Chancellor Li presented me with my scholarship, my first thought went to my mom,” Mickles said. “We were just talking about how I was going to afford my student fees this year.”
The scholarship will allow Mickles to focus on continuing to pursue her passion for social work at UNO. It was a calling that came to her late during her time as an undergraduate student but has since blossomed into a career that she has fallen in love with.
“You hear these people’s stories and the things that they have gone through, things that I would have never known or experienced, and then come away with a plan to do something about it,” Mickles said. “That’s what really affirmed that this is where I’m supposed to be.”
She plans to use her degree to provide mentoring and support for youth.
“I just love working with that younger demographic,” she said. “I’d love to do any work related to child welfare or advocating for kids.”
Mickles has found that UNO’s community builds up and supports its students every step of the way through their academic journey. That feeling was only affirmed by the scholarship support she received through the UNO Fund – Area of Greatest Need.
“Being in this community really just has a loving feeling,” Mickles said. “UNO is just so supportive, especially when it comes to providing opportunities like this.”
These opportunities are possible through donor support to the UNO Fund – Area of Greatest Need. To those donors, Mickles said words can’t express the impact that support like theirs has on students at UNO.
“The joy that this scholarship has brought me can’t be put into words,” she said. “It’s a core memory that is locked into my college experience, and I’d just like to thank these donors for their generosity.”
