The Asbury family, from left, top, are Leslie, Lydia and Laine, bottom, Laura, Lindsey, Zachary and Lisa.
June 2, 2007
When you come from a family of seven children, six of whom are attending the University of Arkansas at the same time, winning a scholarship can really come in handy.
Laine Asbury, a sophomore studying family and consumer sciences education, and her sister Lindsey Asbury, a junior high school teacher studying for a master’s degree in special education, were two of nearly 200 students who received scholarships from the College of Education and Health Professions for the upcoming academic year.
The other Asburys who attend the University of Arkansas are Laine’s triplet sisters, Lydia and Leslie, who are pre-nursing majors; Lisa, who is an elementary education major; and Zachary, who is a geosciences major. An older sister, Laura, graduated from the University of Arkansas School of Law two years ago and works for a law firm in Little Rock.
While Zachary is the only one of the family not majoring in the College of Education and Health Professions, that doesn’t necessarily mean the sisters competed against each other for scholarships.
The online scholarship process the college uses allows students to fill out one application, and then after a sorting process, they are considered for the scholarships for which they fit the criteria. Scholarship criteria vary based on donor preferences, including such aspects as the recipient’s residency, major and other factors.
“I feel pretty lucky for getting that scholarship,” Laine Asbury said. “I would encourage any student to fill out the application. Having six kids in college is a financial burden, and any scholarship money really helps.”
Their father, Dale, is a doctor and their mother, Nancy, taught school before having children.
The Asburys all work while attending college. Laine is spending the summer working as a lifeguard and will be a resident assistant at Reid Hall when she returns to campus in August. Two of her sisters will also be resident assistants at Reid while a fourth sister has the same job at Pomfret Honors Quarters. Lindsey teaches eighth-grade math and science at Woodland Junior High School in Fayetteville, and their brother, who is in ROTC as well as being a student, is busy with training and other assignments.
“It seems natural that we are all getting college educations,” Laine said. “We were all always encouraged to do well and rewarded for doing so.”
Laine entered the university as an apparel studies major in the Bumpers College of Agricultural, Food and Life Sciences but changed to family and consumer sciences education after the first semester. Her cousin, Meredith Asbury, graduated in the spring with a degree in the field and will be teaching at Siloam Springs. Laine wants to teach, too.
“I looked up the classes in the family and consumer sciences major, and they all appealed to me,” she said. “I enjoy sewing and family activities. I think the topics in the major are worthwhile to learn about and teach to others.”
Students in the family and consumer sciences education concentration in workforce development education take several courses in the Bumpers college as well as pedagogical courses in the College of Education and Health Professions.
Lindsey’s job as a teacher fulfills her lifelong ambition to work with children, which she says may have been influenced by growing up in a large family.
“I have always wanted to be able to impact children, to reach them at a time when they are open to positive influences, to help them get through difficult years,” she said. “I’ve always been attracted to kids.”
Lindsey and her sister Laura received their undergraduate degrees from Southern Nazarene University in Bethany, Okla.
Lindsey decided to return to school so that she can teach gifted and talented education, an area in Arkansas that suffers from a shortage of teachers. Having a master’s degree and five years of experience also qualifies her for teaching opportunities overseas, and Lindsey is interested in that possibility down the road.
“This scholarship will help me so much financially,” she said. “It’s hard to be able to afford graduate school, even though I’m working.”
###
Contact:
Heidi Stambuck, director of communications
College of Education and Health Professions
(479) 575-3138, stambuck@uark.edu
