Emily Nieves didn’t come to UGA planning to major in Engineering. Her first year at UGA, she was a pre-pharmacy major. But after falling in love with her math and engineering classes, she changed her major to Biological Engineering and graduated in 2020 with her bachelor’s degree. Now she is preparing to begin work toward her Ph.D. at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, a dream come true for her. While an undergraduate student in the College of Engineering, Emily was the recipient of two different scholarships: the D. Timothy Campbell Family Scholarship in Engineering and the Robert H. Brown Scholarship.
How did you choose UGA?
“I chose to attend UGA because at the time I had no idea what I wanted to do, and UGA offered so many different, highly ranked programs that I knew I would be able to find what I was passionate about. Also, the culture on campus was a very welcoming one.”
“I think it’s the community aspect that makes UGA Engineering special.”
What is one of your favorite memories of your time at UGA, and why?
“My favorite memory is meeting my future fiance in MATLAB class, my very first class at UGA. He asked me for programming help the first day of class, and five years later, we’re still helping each other with programming.”
What do you think makes UGA Engineering special?
“I think it’s the community aspect that makes UGA Engineering special. The students are committed to helping each other, and the professors genuinely care about their students.”
You are the former recipient of the Robert H. Brown Scholarship and the D. Timothy Campbell Family Scholarship. How did receiving these scholarships impact your educational experience?
“I think that without the various scholarships I’ve received, I would have likely not been able to spend as much time focusing on my grades, which were an important part of getting the graduate school offers that I did.”
How did receiving these scholarships impact your view of philanthropy?
“They reminded me how very life-changing these types of gifts can be. You don’t need to give large amounts of money to impact someone. Once I finish school, I’ll definitely be donating to a scholarship fund.”
“…thank you so much for your generosity. It is truly life-changing.”
If you could say one thing to Engineering donors, or those who are considering giving, what would it be?
“I would say thank you so much for your generosity. It is truly life-changing.”
What do you miss most about UGA?
“I miss nearly everything about UGA, but after a year of working from home, what I miss the most is getting to interact with so many people every day: classmates, professors, lab mates, even people on the crowded UGA buses.”
