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Nelson Brothers to give scholarships for The Factory in essay contest

Now that the newly built Aggie Factory will be opening for use, Nelson Brothers is giving out scholarships in an essay contest for students who wish to live there.

The essay asks students to answer two prompts in a one-page essay: describe an experience or personal achievement that has brought more meaning to students’ educational goals, and describe how living at The Factory will help achieve those goals.

“Really what we are looking for are experiences that you have gone through that have helped build your character and made you a great Aggie, or if you have had some hardships or worked really hard to accomplish something. The second question is what you are going to do with your scholarship. Some people have great aspirations and we want to hear that,” said Patrick Nelson, the CEO of Nelson Brothers, and a Utah State University alum.

There are five different scholarships that will be given out. The first will be a fully paid room for a year, second place is $1,500, third place is $1,000, fourth place is $800, and fifth place is $500. A $25 gift card will be given to all those who apply before April 25.

“With the situation of us being late last year, Nelson Brothers wanted to give out five scholarships for living at The Factory,” said Rachel Romney, the property manager for The Factory.

Nelson had a personal experience with being tight for money when it came to housing when he was attending USU and wants to help others in that situation.

“When I went to Utah State, I remember that I had student loans and I was trying to figure out where to live. My student loans hadn’t even come in and I had a good relationship with the owner of the townhouse I lived in. He was super kind to me and allowed me to live there for free from August to December in 1999 while my student loans came in. Once it came in, I was able to pay it all,” Nelson said.

The contest is designed to let all students have a chance at winning.

“We’re not looking for anyone in particular other than students who want to use The Factory to accomplish what they came to do in college. The two questions are based on that,” Nelson said.

Multiple prizes are available so that many students can have a chance at getting a discount.

“I hate it when there is only one grand prize, so we’ve tried to make it so that multiple kids will win,” Nelson said.

Melissa Yauney, a freshman majoring in special education, agrees that the monetary prize will be a good reward.

“I feel like it would be nice because it gives people an option to live there if they may not have the money to live there. It gives them the option to live there through work instead of just having money,” Yauney said.

Romney thinks that there will be many chances for students to get out and meet people, but also give them resources to be efficient students.

“I think it opens up a lot of opportunities for them. The finances won’t be such a burden for them,” Romney said.

The Factory is specifically designed to help students be more efficient, which is why Nelson Brothers wants to make it even more available to students.

“I think in today’s world, a lot of the social networking comes from Twitter, or texting or from a basement in someone’s apartment and we want to get them back out and meeting people face to face and having real social skills,” Nelson said.

In order to help give students the opportunity to socialize more and be more efficient, high-speed internet has been installed in The Factory. Romney prefers to work at her office instead of at her home because of how quick the Internet is.

“The main thing is getting out there is that this place is very efficient. Myself personally, I hate going home and working on stuff because the Internet (at the Factory) is lightning fast. Everything is right here at your fingertips, whether it be for studying or social or athletic,” Romney said.

— roniastephen@gmail.com
@RoniALake