It only lasted for a few minutes, but for me, it was a “Moment.”
As some may remember, I was President of the Wheaton North Alumni Association for years. As President, I made it a point to attend the annual Honors Assembly and meet with the recipients of our scholarships.
Each year’s event resulted from an astonishing amount of work on the part of WNHSAA. We took our “due diligence” to the limit and beyond, and these appearances were my personal high-points of the year. I had the privilege to meet and talk with the best and brightest of the young people of Wheaton. I always came away with a firm resolve to do it again the next year.
One year has stuck with me for all the years since. We awarded a scholarship to Warisha Aslam. The meetings took place in the Guidance Office. The staff of that office were indispensable partners with our organization and were gracious hosts. The meetings were all one would expect.
After the time in the office, we did a lot of photo-ops and then gently dispersed. I headed out into the Commons a happy man. In the Commons, Warisha approached me and asked if I’d like to meet her family. She guided me to her parents and siblings and introduced me. I found them glowing with joy and hope for what they saw in Warisha’s future.
The one thing that has remained as the main impression of the moment was when her father shook me fervently by the hand, thanking me with glistening eyes. No elaboration was needed to drive home the difference WNHSAA had made to their entire family. I was moved and deeply humbled.
Warisha pursued her education and has never lost sight of our impact. She has always stayed in touch, keeping us in her loop and cementing the relationship. Today, she is a Board member, doing all she can to “pay it forward.” We chose wisely.
The point of all this is to encourage you to pay it forward yourselves. Financially and personally, the Association needs your investment and energy. Be like Warisha. This has the potential to be some of the best work you will ever do. It was for me.
Cole Helfrich – Past President of the WNHS Alumni Association
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I still remember that moment clear as day. About a week before graduation, my high school guidance counselor called me to his office. When I knocked on his door, at first I felt apprehensive, until curiosity, and ultimately, excitement took over.
“Congratulations, you have been awarded the Wheaton North High School Alumni Association Scholarship!”
Fast forward to the day of the Honors Assembly when I met Cole Helfrich, then President of the Wheaton North High School Alumni Association Foundation (WNHS-AA). As I shook Cole’s hand after receiving the award, that moment held more weight than I could possibly articulate. For a young, immigrant, woman of color from a working class family, that handshake represented the unrelenting support of a community that believed in my potential, a community that would root for me as I dove headfirst towards my dreams, and a community that I hoped to give back to one day.
In the six years that have followed since that moment, I graduated from Purdue University with the highest distinction, became a Fulbright Scholar in Turkey, worked in a research position at Harvard University, and will begin my Master’s degree program at the University of Cambridge this Fall.
My life may have transformed over the course of the past six years, but the faith that the Wheaton North High School Alumni Association Foundation expressed in me through the scholarship I received mattered on the day of the Honors Assembly, it mattered at every professional milestone I have experienced since then, and it continues to matter now.
In September 2021, I had the privilege of joining the WNHS-AA as a Board of Directors Member and currently, I serve as the Association’s Vice President. The scholarship applications that I review each year brim with hopes, stories of unique lived experiences, and aspirations. Your donations allow the Association to make a difference in the lives of these young minds every year.
As an individual that directly benefited from one of the WNHS-AA’s scholarships, I encourage you to support the Association by volunteering your time and/or financial resources.
I promise you, the recipients of these scholarships will carry the impact of your generosity forward with each step they take towards realizing their dreams. I know I do.
Warisha Aslam – Scholarship Recipient
