Grace Youngblood

This is a photo of me taken last summer on the Urban Farm with our week’s harvest for the Student Food Bank. This is a once to twice weekly harvest that I help coordinate during the summers to get food to the students once classes have paused for the break.

Degree: BLArch

Expected Graduation Date: Winter 2023

2022-2023 Scholarship
Josephine Lumm Matsler ’41, Endowed Scholarship
Lynn Mathews Memorial Scholarship

I Am Originally From Eugene, OR

WHY I CAME TO THE UO AND HOW I CHOSE MY MAJOR
I chose the University of Oregon because I wanted to attend the university I grew up next to and it was made possible by incredible scholarship opportunities such as this one. My favorite part of the College of Design is my peers and their endless creativity.

I chose this major after first getting involved with the Urban Farm. I have worked and helped out with classes there for the last 4 years of college.

UNIQUE QUALITIES I BRING TO MY STUDIES
I grew up in a low income family heavily reliant on our own food production within our own garden. This experience has lead me into my studies with a great appreciation and understanding of the importance of food in design, spatial relationships and a great love for botany.

MY INFLUENTIAL PROFESSORS
Harper Keeler, head of the Urban Farm program, has been a mentor to me in my studies. His passion for the farm, sustainable agriculture and environmental design is the reason I joined the Landscape Architecture program and will soon graduate and enter the professional world of Landscape Architecture. I am very grateful to him for leading me into this world and uncovering my passion.

MY EXTRACURRICULAR ACTIVITIES
The University’s Urban Farm is where I spend all of my extracurricular time. I have a work study through the farm as well as being a regular volunteer. I also help with the weekly classes during the fall and spring terms and have been the student assistant for the food in the garden Freshman Interest Group course for the last 3 years, helping first year students settle into the university and showing them what the Department of Landscape Arrchitecture has to offer. I am a co-founder and core member of a student group who advocates for the preservation and historical designation of the Urban Farm.

MY GREATEST LEARNING EXPERIENCE AT UO
My greatest learning experience at the University so far was probably in my third year getting involved with the landscape department and taking classes and learning not only an unknown passion but also unknown skills within the field.

AFTER GRADUATION
I would like to continue pursuing my interest in Urban Agriculture, food sovereignty/ accessibility and environmental urban design. I hope to work in a Landscape Architecture firm with shared values and goals and work towards my own licensure.

YOUR GIFT
This scholarship is making it possible for me to finish up my final two terms of education and receive my Bachelor of Landscape Architecture.

I would like to thank you for your generosity. This scholarship is making it possible for me to finish my degree and enter the professional world. I am incredibly grateful for all of the opportunities and continued education these scholarships have made possible for me.