SPARKS, Nev. Megan Wurm learned the Cougar fight song at an age when most of her contemporaries were still singing along with a purple dinosaur named Barney. Now an 18-year-old with a high school diploma, the Nevada native has been accepted for admittance this fall to Washington State University.
“When the time came to look at colleges, I came to Pullman and fell in love with the place,” said Wurm.
Her lifelong penchant for the Crimson and Grey is actually something of a family inheritance. Her father Mike Wurm (’85) was a star athlete at WSU, earning All Pac-10 “sixth man” honors as a standout basketball player. His daughter grew up hearing stories about his experiences in Pullman and how thoroughly his time at the university had shaped his life.
“I now understand how much my father loves WSU,” she said.
Last month, Wurm was selected as the national ambassador for “Money Matters,” a joint program between the Boys and Girls Clubs of America and the Charles Schwab Foundation. In her new role, she will serve as a spokesperson for the program and be charged with promoting financial education for teens as the basis for lifelong financial health and well-being.
Her selection to the national post also earned Wurm a $5,000 college scholarship from Charles Schwab Foundation, as well as a matching grant of $5,000 from the foundation to help fund the “Money Matters” program at the Boys & Girls Club of Truckee Meadows, of which Wurm is a member. Earning the scholarship brought Wurm that much closer to her goal of attending WSU.
“I am only $8,000 away from having enough money for college in the fall,” she said. “I really am working as hard as I can to make that happen.”
Wurm has a few summer projects lined up, and is hoping to hear back on several scholarships she remains in the running for.
“I keep telling my friends “when I’m in Pullman this fall,” Wurm said. “I realize it’s not a for-sure thing yet, but positive thinking has to be a first step.”
She hopes to major in history and to return to Nevada as a teacher.