Elliott Jeffords

This is a photo of my family back home—Mom, Dad, my sister, and brother. I am second from the right. We were celebrating my brother’s birthday, amidst a rainy barbeque that had been planned weeks prior. My family is a big part of my life.

Degree: Bachelor of Arts in Art History, Minors in Classical Civilizations and Anthropology

Expected Graduation Date: Spring 2023

2022-2023 Scholarship
Gloria Tovar Lee Scholarship in Art History

I Am Originally From Portland, OR

WHY I CAME TO THE UO AND HOW I CHOSE MY MAJOR
I chose the University of Oregon because it was close to home, and still gave me the opportunity to meet lots of great people and see a different aspect of life. I previously attended Oregon State University’s Cascade campus in Bend, and I just did not have the same connection. Eugene has been a wonderful change. I love the College of Design because of all of the great things that I get access to, I meet so many different majors in the college and have made a lot of friends and connections because of it, not to mention the vast variety of research materials I get access to in the Design Library. It’s wonderful.

I used to be a STEM major, wanting to be a botanist, when I realized that I wasn’t really happy with my current trajectory. It might not be super glamourous but I remember watching the show Charmed and being really captivated by one of the main characters Prue, and her job. She worked at an auction house and did research and appraised art for sale, and I found that really interesting, so I started looking into all of the different avenues that you can go into with a degree in Art History! I haven’t looked back since.

UNIQUE QUALITIES I BRING TO MY STUDIES
I have been working since I was 15, in lots of different jobs. I was a pantry chef, have had multiple retail jobs, and even was a preschool teacher for a short time. All of these different careers have taught me to have a lot of patience and compassion for people, and I take that into my studies very frequently. It has also taught me that things aren’t always set in stone, so if your plans fall through you have to keep moving and find a new route. I currently work at the UO bookstore, which has been really great because I am allowed a lot of liberties that most jobs don’t have in order to balance my studies.

MY INFLUENTIAL PROFESSORS
So far, my most influential UO  professors have been Professors Victoria Ehrlich and Kristen Seaman. Professor Ehrlich is the educator who I have had the most classes with since attending UO and I really value her opinions on all of my work, and feel as though I have really learned a lot from her in regards to many things that exceed just art history. Professor Seaman on the other hand is the blueprint. I have been really amazed by her career path and aspire to be more like her. She also teaches the courses that relate most closely to my interests in the ancient world, specifically ancient Greece, so it is a joy to be able to take any classes with her.

MY GREATEST LEARNING EXPERIENCE AT UO
I think the most valuable thing I’ve learned is to be resilient. I have hit a lot of road bumps in my academic career, especially at the UO. I don’t mean that in a negative way, as I have no quarrels with the university, but I will just say that things have not always gone to plan. With schedule conflicts, course cancelations, and the problems of day-to-day life, sometimes it is just natural for things to not go right. So it really is important to be proactive and find solutions or backups in case of emergency. I have become really self-admittedly resilient as I have had to utilize my resources countless times. I just think of that Michael Jordan quote, “it doesn’t matter if you fall, what matters is if you get back up.”

AFTER GRADUATION
As an over-planner, I have thought of a million different avenues in which I would be very happy with my life. Some of those options are, working in a museum whether it be curatorial or in restoration/preservation, working in art appraisal in an organization or as a private worker, or in education at the high school or college level. I could see myself being happy in most of these scenarios. I have been thinking a lot about grad school, so I hope if the opportunity comes up to do that I’m able to do that. I hope to be traveling and seeing a lot of the works I’ve been studying in the classroom in person, as I know a screen does not do it justice. Maybe even one day I hope to write a book or a publication of some sort. It would be nice to contribute my own works to the world and maybe I’ll be part of a course reading list one day.

YOUR GIFT
This scholarship is helping in a lot of ways. I pay for school almost exclusively with loans, meaning that it will be more and more expensive as my interest carries on. Outside of the financial support, receiving the award reassures me that I am doing something right, and gives me confidence in my choice of major.

Thank you for making this award possible! I am very interested in the lives of others and from what I read, it seems like Mrs. and Dr. Lee had quite an interesting and exciting life and I would love to learn more about the details of their lives together. I am so grateful and gratified to have received this award! Thank you!