“When I found out I was pregnant as a freshman, I was terrified,” said Nicolina Evola (AB ’18). A student in U-M’s College of Literature, Science, and the Arts at the time, she wondered how she would earn her degree while caring for her child.
CEW+ (formerly the Center for the Education of Women) stepped in to offer Nicolina the Margaret Dow Towsley Scholarship, established by the Harry A. and Margaret D. Towsley Foundation. The scholarship is one of many offered by the CEW+ Scholarship Program to women and nontraditional students whose education has been interrupted.
For Nicolina, CEW+ is “the reason I stayed at Michigan.” Financial, academic, and personal support from donors, peers, and mentors at the center gave Nicolina the confidence to pursue her degree while raising her son. “I realized how much support I had to move forward, never once feeling guilty or pressured to sacrifice my career in order to take care of my child,” Nicolina said.
As a mother, Nicolina has experienced the life-changing impact of donors who support students from unique backgrounds and experiences.“Meeting some of the non-traditional students that I’ve met through the CEW+ has been really inspiring,” she said. “There are students that have so many challenges in their lives, and they still go to school.”
The support she received as an undergraduate has inspired her to continue serving others. Nicolina plans to earn a graduate degree in public health, pursuing her passion to help fellow student mothers continue their education.
