News Article

Veronica Gieser says scholarships were instrumental in her decision to attend Gonzaga University.

Gonzaga freshman Veronica Gieser, a graduate of Central High School in Billings, Mont., earned the Advanced-Placement Scholar with Distinction Award recently for scoring an average of 4.2, on a 1-to-5-scale, for all five AP exams she took before coming to Gonzaga.

Gieser, from Park City, Mont., can choose virtually any career. Already, she is leaning toward becoming a physical therapist with a human physiology major with a music minor. She has played the piano for 14 years and competed in high school.

Gieser experienced many injuries in high school athletics and spent a lot of time with physical therapists. “I did some research and decided it was something I would probably like to do,” she said.

As for Gonzaga, Gieser believes she made the right choice.

“I absolutely love it here,” she said. “It’s fantastic, the weather is nice, and campus is beautiful. I really like having my own schedule. I have my hard class days and easy class days. I get all of my homework done on the easy days. The teachers are all very helpful. The kids are all nice.”

Honors are not new to Gieser, Central’s valedictorian who is among some 16,000 U.S. National Merit Scholar Finalists.

The honors have translated into major scholarship aid.

“Scholarships are one of the big reasons I came here,” she said. “I worked really hard on these scholarships. It’s money I don’t have to pay back when I graduate. If I keep my grades up, I will graduate from here with no loans.”

Smart?

Very!

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