Select Page

JBS senior Joshua Slagell traveled to LeTourneau University in Longview, Texas on February 9th to spend a weekend competing for the prestigious and highly coveted Heritage Scholarship. Slagell competed against 98 incoming college freshmen  — some of the brightest and best students in the nation — who were selected based on their ACT scores, interviews, and essays. More specifically, to attend this invitation-only event, Slagell had to score well on the ACT exam and have a cumulative high school grade point average of at least 3.65. He also had to enter by writing an essay and participating in a team-building leadership challenge judged by LETU faculty and staff and former Heritage Scholarship winners. As a part of this competition, Slagell has plans to major in either engineering, aviation, computer science, the arts and/or sciences.

The Heritage Scholarship is valued at more than $86,000 per student over four years. According to LETU, the Heritage Scholarship is the University’s “premier scholarship which is applied toward tuition costs and is renewable for up to eight semesters, as long as winners maintain a grade point average of at least 3.5 and meet scholarship requirements.”

While there, Slagell checked in at the Belcher Center on campus to watch Riverdance on Thursday evening. On Friday, he had several meetings with the Dean of Admissions for aviation majors, which inspired him to want to attend LeTourneau University and pursue this course of study. He also had the opportunity to compete in a group problem solving competition, as well as pay a visit to the University Chapel. On Saturday, he visited the school airport and was able to take flight with a fellow student while touring the facility. About the trip, Slagell said, “The visit was enriching and a great experience for me as I got a chance to explore the university.”

All of Slagell’s accomplishments from the competition will be known in March.