Bascobert又做了一份礼物 为学生创造“有意义的影响”

在城里庆祝2023届毕业生的时候, 巴斯科伯特和他的母亲, 帕特丽夏, had the opportunity to have lunch with Austin Boettcher ’27, a recipient of the Paul Bascobert ’87 and Jacqueline Bascobert Kelm ’86 Scholarship.

“My mother and I had an opportunity to meet with Austin, and that was quite special,” Bascobert说. “She said Austin reminded her of me when I was younger, which I took as quite a compliment.”

这是两人第一次见面. In addition to learning about Boettcher, they chatted about their experiences at Kettering.

“It was nice to come back and see how the school has grown; I really was amazed at how the facilities have expanded. The new labs, 学习共享 and athletic facility made me want to sign up for classes. The role that Kettering is playing in the community is impressive and very smart,” Bascobert说. “... 同时, 穿过隧道, 旧教学楼, 在实验室里, 回忆又回来了. The smells, the paint, the equipment, it took me back 40 years to when I first walked those halls.” 

Boettcher majors in Mechanical Engineering and co-ops at Mayco International, mostly in research and development and engineering trial and error.

“我喜欢它，”伯特彻说. “我真的很喜欢和我一起工作的人. 我喜欢对某件事表现出兴趣的样子, they encourage me to pursue what I’m interested in at the company.”

Kettering was the only school he visited when considering where to go to college. Boettcher was a founding member of the 第一个 机器人 team at Austin Catholic High School in Chesterfield, 密歇根. He heard of Kettering after a mentor for his team and an alumnus recommended he tour campus.

“I just knew this was the college I wanted to go to,” Boettcher said. “The small class sizes and 合作社 program felt like a good fit.”

The Bascobert scholarship made his dream of attending Kettering a reality.

“一点一滴都有帮助，”Boettcher说. 有了那份奖学金, that was a make-or-break thing on whether or not I could come to Kettering in the first place.”

Meeting Bascobert enabled him to put a face to the name on the scholarship.

“He was very genuine, very nice and easy to talk to,” Boettcher said about Bascobert. “It made me feel like they were more invested in who the money was going to and wanted to see it was being put to good use.”

Boettcher said he planned to reach out to Bascobert when he finished his work term to “thank him and let him know I am officially a sophomore.”

Bascobert and his wife, Jane, recently made another gift to the endowment to help it grow.

“当我们开始的时候, our goal was to have a meaningful impact on the student’s ability to attend Kettering, and our focus was on students who like my sister and I were the first ones to graduate from college,他说. “The quality and affordability of Kettering made a huge impact on the trajectory of our lives, we just want to continue to pass on that opportunity to others. 上大学的费用越来越高, so we need to make sure that what we’re doing has a meaningful impact.”

Bascobert and his sister Jacqueline established the endowed scholarship in 2020 in honor of their parents, 帕特丽夏和雷诺·巴斯科伯特, first-generation Americans who instilled in their children the importance of a strong education in the sciences and a rewarding career in engineering.

6月之前, 帕特丽夏 Bascobert had visited campus twice—the day she dropped Paul at Thompson Hall and the day he graduated, Bascobert说. She was in the audience in June as he gave his 毕业典礼 address.

“这对我们俩来说都很特别，”巴斯科伯特说. “她年纪越来越大了，但她还能很好地四处走动. To come back after all of those years and share that moment together was a lifetime opportunity.”