2018-2019 Golden Eagle Scholarship Recipient

Kodee Wagner is a communication disorders major pursuing a career in speech pathology. She transferred to Eastern Washington University from the community college system in fall 2016. Her current GPA is 3.98 and she has been consistently on the Dean’s List.

Kodee’s passion to become a speech pathologist began when she was able to observe her grandfather in speech therapy sessions. She then had the opportunity to work with a stroke patient who had aphasia. She also volunteered at her local hospital with brain injury patients in order to gain experience helping those who have difficulties with speaking and overall communication.

The deciding factor that led her down this future career path, however, occurred when she was able to shadow a speech pathologist in an elementary school. Since she always wanted to be a teacher and work with children and families in the educational system, Kodee saw this as a way to accomplish her goals.

When Kodee was perusing colleges that offered speech pathology, Eastern Washington University caught her attention as a school with a very strong Communication Disorders Program. She also felt that Eastern could offer her both social and financial support in a friendly manner. These led to her deciding that EWU would be the best fit for her.

While Kodee has had many opportunities to be involved in the community, both in high school and college, and feels these experiences are very important for personal growth and the development of leadership and team skills, she is also very dedicated to her academic program and very deserving of the Golden Eagle Scholarship Award.

To help fund her educational pursuits, she has held numerous jobs. She has been employed in the Student Employment Office since her first quarter at Eastern while continuing to take classes. She plans to continue working in that position during the school year until graduation.

Kodee is very appreciative of any help she can get in financing college costs and feels honored to have been chosen as the Golden Eagle Scholarship recipient.