Some of Iowa State’s freshmen are receiving a helping hand along their journey through higher education thanks to the Christina Hixon Opportunity Awards.

The Hixon awards, which were developed in mid-February, are designed to recognize the achievements of 100 Iowa natives attending ISU. The $2,500 scholarships are awarded to those who come from “challenging family environments,” meet financial eligibility criteria and who have the potential to succeed, said Debra Sanborn, director of the program.

“We are here to serve the people of the state,” Sanborn said. “Most of these students would not be here without this reward. These are students who have potential and are on their way to success.”

The students represent all of the undergraduate colleges at the university with the heaviest concentrations in the Liberal Arts and Sciences, Agriculture and Engineering colleges. Most of the 52 women and 48 men, from 95 of Iowa’s 99 counties, also attended public schools.

The program’s goal was to have scholars in each county.

“This is truly an Iowa Awards program. Hopefully we will have all 99 counties represented in 1996,” Sanborn said. “The students represent every niche of the state.”

Scholarship recipients will have several duties as the first winners of the awards including attending monthly meetings and operating as mentors for next year’s recipients. They will also promote ISU to high schools and submit a column on the value of education to their local newspaper.

“The students are very excited about being the first award recipients who get to mold and shape the program,” Sanborn said.

Recipients agree.

“I was very excited; I yelled; I screamed; I went around telling everybody that I had won,” Sarah Jennings, a pre-journalism student, said of her reaction to winning the award. Jennings also said she was looking forward to the events next year because of the positive, community atmosphere of the program. She said she has high praise for Hixon. “She really, really loves the idea of giving people education. As recipients we have to take advantage of that and make it work, ” Jennings said.