2008 Scholarship Recipient

Reich’s balance of school and community earns scholarship

Scholarship opportunities exist for high school seniors who

Kristen Reich

show ambition and patience for filling out paperwork. The good news—and bad—for many of these teens: there are hundreds of local students who work hard and deserve financial assistance to help them pay for college, says

Kristen Reich, a senior at Bismarck High School. Reich recently applied for and received a $1,000 scholarship from Capital Electric Cooperative, in partnership with Basin Electric Power Cooperative.

The daughter of Dave and Ann Reich, who are members of Capital Electric Cooperative, Kristen says she applied for several scholarships and felt honored to be chosen to receive the co-op scholarship.

“It’s nice when people notice your hard work,” she says. “It’s an honor to even be considered because there are so many students who really deserve it.”

Capital Electric took notice of Kristen’s hard work, both inside and out of the classroom. She is active in the Spanish Club, Kiwanis Educating Youth (KEY) Club and student council. She also plans to serve on a Relay for Life committee, to help raise money for cancer awareness.

Kristen took summer school and advanced placement classes in order to balance her schoolwork and extracurricular activities. She says this balance has helped her prepare for college.

“I’m pretty independent. I surround myself with good friends and I know who I am, so I’m definitely prepared to go to college.”

This fall, Kristen will head to the University of Minnesota. She’s interested in studying medicine, physical therapy, psychology, kinesiology—or possibly liberal arts. No matter what she chooses as a major, she knows one thing: She wants to work with and help people.

The desire to help people likely was instilled in her by her parents. Ann works for the North Dakota Bankers Association and Dave serves as a district judge. They are the two people Kristen says she will miss most when she moves away to attend college.

“I have a really good relationship with my parents. My mom is one of my best friends and I can tell her anything. And my dad and I have such a cool relationship. We run together and I’ll really miss that. He’s so inspiring to me. He works so hard and he’s the nicest guy; he’s respectful to everybody,” she says.

“My parents taught me that it’s not the career you choose or the money you make, but it’s about the person you are. I couldn’t ask for better parents, and I’ll really miss them,” she says.