Antonette Willa Skupa Turner Scholarship

The purpose of the Antonette Willa Skupa Turner Scholarship is to provide financial assistance to graduates of Nebraska high schools who plan to enroll as English or history majors in accredited colleges or universities. Applicants must be high school seniors who are prospective first-year college students and plan to continue their education as English or history majors in accredited colleges or universities. Selection is based on intellectual promise, creativity and character of the applicant.

The Antonette Willa Skupa Turner Scholarship is named after the granddaughter of John and Annie Sadilek Pavelka, prototypes for both Anton and Ántonia Shimerda in Cather's novel My Ántonia and Anton and Mary Rosicky in Cather's short story "Neighbour Rosicky."

Financial Data

One $1,000 scholarship will be awarded annually. Each stipend is payable at the beginning of the first year of college. The scholarship is not renewable.

Purpose: The Antonette Willa Skupa Turner Scholarship is named after the granddaughter of John and Annie Sadilek Pavelka, prototypes for both Anton and Ántonia Shimerda in Cather’s novel My Ántonia and Anton and Mary Rosicky in Cather’s short story “Neighbour Rosicky.” The scholarship provides financial assistance to a graduate of a Nebraska high school who is planning to enroll as an English or History major at an accredited college or university.

Eligibility: Applicants must be high school seniors who are prospective first-year college students and plan to continue their education as English or History majors in accredited colleges or universities. Selection is based on intellectual promise, creativity and character of the applicant.

Financial Data: The $1,000 scholarship is payable at the beginning of the first year of college and the scholarship is not renewable.

Number Awarded: One each year.

Deadline: February 28 annually

APPLICATION CHECKLIST

These must be included with your application for the Antonette Willa Turner Scholarship:

1. High School Transcript    

2. A letter of recommendation from your English or History teacher

3. The four-page application

4. Original 1,500-word essay (See Essay Question)

ESSAY QUESTION

Please write an approximately 1,500-word essay of your own choosing on Cather’s novel My Ántonia or her short story “Neighbour Rosicky.” You may comment on what impresses you in the work(s) such as various scenes, characters, theme, style, language, or the like. It is also permissible to use a previous essay you might have written on Cather and one that you can adapt to the guidelines. You must, however, use the following guidelines:

A. Illustrate your comments with an occasional quotation from the primary source and include the page number for the quotation.

B. List correctly the edition of the Cather work you are using on the Works Cited page by using the MLA style.

C. Your readers know the selected Cather works quite well, so please do not offer plot summaries.

D. Do not forget to title your paper.

E. The recipient is invited to read his/her essay at the Willa Cather Spring Conference in Red Cloud. The Spring Conference is held annually on the first weekend in June. Details about presentations will be sent to scholarship winners.