Posts by Saloma Furlong
Exciting New Developments at ADSF
We hope you have been enjoying the success stories over the past several months of current students and those who have graduated from a college or university and now have careers. The latest story of Leon Hostetler that starts here is truly awe-inspiring because it is rare for someone to be raised Amish and to…
Read MoreHow an Amish Boy Became a Physicist, Part 3
Leon Hostetler graduating from Florida State University Today we bring you the conclusion of Leon Hostetler’s story. I first knew of him when he was writing a blog more than ten years ago before he started college and he was clearly upset, even bitter, that his schooling had been interrupted after the eighth grade. I…
Read MoreHow an Amish Boy Became a Physicist, Part 2
Photo by Leon Hostetler of his childhood home Leaving the Amish By Leon Hostetler By my mid-teens there was constant pressure from my parents and the larger community to formally join the Amish church. But how could I? The big picture was too fuzzy for me. I was not convinced that the Amish worldview…
Read MoreHow an Amish Boy Became a Physicist, Part 1
Today we bring you the incredible story of Leon Hostetler’s educational journey that took him from his Amish childhood to becoming postdoctoral fellow in the Physics Department at Indiana University. This story will be published in three parts. Early Life By Leon Hostetler As a young boy, I was fascinated with technology. This was…
Read MoreLearning How to Learn
We have been bringing you stories of current applicants of ADSF who have persevered to find their path to college or university. Today we bring you the remarkable story of Michael Walker, who grew up among the Swartzentruber Amish (the strictest of the strict) and became a software engineer. It is amazing that Michael has…
Read More“A Character that is Truly My Own “
Below is another essay by one of our scholarship applicants. This one is more personal for me because I knew her mother as a child. Even though Ruth did not speak of her home life, I often wondered if the image her family projected of being “good Christians” was different than the life inside their…
Read MoreA Chance for a Different Future
In our last post, we shared one of the outstanding scholarship essays that we received. Today we are offering another, this one from Anna Mae Troyer in Ohio. She does a beautiful job of introducing herself, so let’s go right to her essay. I have never authored an essay that is formed with the assumption…
Read MoreThe Gift of Learning
The ADSF team met to decide how to allocate the scholarship money to our record number of applicants this year — 19 in all. Reading the applications was an inspiring and moving part of our job as volunteers. One thing is for certain: those who have a childhood education limited to the eighth grade and…
Read MoreAny former Amish Entrepreneurs out there?
We’ve spent a lot of time engaging with former Amish students on their academic ambitions but today we’d like to hear from those of you who have left the Amish and started your own business. Since I’ve started working in business finance, I realize that good business practice starts with honesty, integrity and some common…
Read MoreCycling from London to Paris for ADSF
Tomorrow morning I’m setting out with two friends on the greatest physical challenge of my lifetime. We are cycling from London to Paris, a distance of close to 250 miles.I’m doing this for my birthday to raise money for the AD Scholarship Fund. We were able to give away $12,000 in scholarships this year so…
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