When Jessie Levesque-Etling graduated from Conifer High School in 2019 she was awarded four Bootstraps scholarships – the Lam Tree Service Scholarship, R & R Partners Scholarship, the PEO Chapter FR Scholarship, and the Pam Murray Memorial Scholarship. She attends Metro State University full-time with a major in environmental engineering. Jessie points out that her family is science-oriented; her mom is a physical therapist and her sister, Chloe, has a degree in Biology. Chloe also received a Bootstraps scholarship and recently graduated from CU Denver.
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Fortunately for Jessie, her transition from high school to college was quite smooth.  Her courses at Conifer High School helped prepare her for college-level courses. She thought it would be harder and more of a drastic change, but the transition was not as challenging since she didn’t have to move far away or out of state.  The professors at MSU help the freshman class with their transition, easing them into university life.

The change to college was not as difficult as she thought it would be, although the pandemic created a lot of new and difficult challenges.   “Everywhere you look something has changed because of COVID,” says Jessie. Most of her basic course work, such as calculus, was completed with on-line learning. She has not begun full engineering courses or upper-level lab courses, which she will take in her junior year. Due to the impact of COVID, there are no opportunities to do hands-on learning, which is disappointing, and Jessie misses the face-to-face interactions with her professors.

Freshman year was spent finding her footing at the Metro State. Jessie had planned to join a couple of different clubs like the civil engineer club and steel construction engineer club, but COVID affected her opportunities to participate in extracurricular activities. Participation in the clubs would introduce Jessie to different majors with opportunities to work on hands-on projects, such as the team-oriented bridge building competition within the steel construction club.

In her scholarship application essay, Jessie wrote, “The one thing that I can tell you about myself … is how much I want to create a lasting impact on the world. When I think about who I am, I immediately think about my passion for the outdoors. Growing up in the mountains, we all spend time outside and the love we each have for nature can inspire us to help the environment."
Her dream job would be a green building engineer. This dream triggered a change of her major from environmental science to environmental engineering. She likes to create art as a side project when she has free time. This career choice allows her to be creative while protecting the environment. A degree in an environmental field will provide more opportunities in the job market because Jessie will be a more well-rounded candidate.

Jessie helps support her tuition costs by working at Brooks Place Tavern in Conifer. She recently applied for a paid position in the supplemental instruction program at MSU, which supports students with their coursework in all types of majors. Her focus would be on helping engineering students to succeed in their studies.    
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About the support Jessie receives from Bootstraps, she says, “I feel incredibly fortunate to not only have received financial support from Bootstraps but also to have the opportunity to connect with the staff at Bootstraps who have shown that they care about my academic success. Bootstraps has helped me realize and reach for my dream career.”