Cole, Ella and Livia Ivie have been truly blessed by the JVS Scholarship Program.
These amazing siblings, whose parents are both self-employed, faced the financial challenge of entering college a couple of years apart from each other. The COVID-19 pandemic made this burden even more taxing on the family, as it depleted their income.
At the same time, Ella was diagnosed with an aneurysmal tumor that affected 75% of her right tibia bone.
With the help of the JVS Scholarship Program, all three siblings have attended college. Ella, 23, graduated from Louisiana State University with a major in fashion design and business. Cole, 25, a multi-year JVS Scholarship recipient, received his master’s degree in wildlife conservation from California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo.
Livia, 20, attends Vassar College, majoring in psychology.
Cole, funded by the Roslyn and Abner D. Goldstine Scholarship Fund and the Carol and Jerry Muchin Family Scholarship, hopes to pursue a PhD and enter academia. “The relief of financial support gave me the time to focus on what I needed to and put more emphasis on my academics and the extracurriculars that are super important for my growth,” says Cole.
Ella earned her degree in Apparel Design and Entrepreneurship, where she developed skills in garment construction, patternmaking, draping, concept development, trend forecasting, and brand strategy. She currently works as a freelance fashion production assistant and tech pack designer.
“I’ve gotten to study abroad and do research which has been incredible and opened a lot of doors,” said Ella of her experience. “I’m in fashion design and I plan to acquire work experience first and then grow from there.” Ella received the Pearle Rae Levey Scholarship in Everlasting Remembrance of Mark B. Levey.
Livia, whose scholarship is sponsored by the JVS SoCal Women’s Leadership Network, is also a student athlete. The scholarship has given her hope that she can achieve her goals despite the obstacles her family faced. “I’m super excited to have this opportunity that JVS has given me to be able to go to school and also play soccer,” says Livia.
Marc and Kelli Ivie, the proud parents of these three outstanding students say, “it’s been very fortunate that JVS has provided us with support the last six years, and it’s made things a lot easier for us. Relieving that burden has been very, very helpful. We can’t say enough about the support we’ve had from JVS.”
The Ivie family is most grateful for the investment JVS has made in their education and their future.
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