Dear Mr. Howes,

I'm writing to tell you what a class organization I think the AAST is! My husband, Bill, is a retired Oregon state trooper and has been a member of AAST ever since we knew of its existence. Our daughter Kara is in her third year at the University of St. Thomas in St. Paul, Minn., and has received an AAST scholarship all three years of college. She's an overachiever -- she will graduate next spring after 3 years of college. She's hoping to be accepted into their masters program.

This third year, she was devastated when she realized she might miss receiving a scholarship by .01 percent! She sent the application in anyway, and the scholarship committee must have looked at her records and realized that she had taken 20 credits last term, has been on the Dean’s List every term since she started college, and they awarded her a somewhat reduced scholarship for this third year. She was thrilled, and as her parents, we are too. It's wonderful that her hard work was recognized by the AAST scholarship committee.

We are extremely grateful for the help we've received from AAST over these past three years. Actually, our older daughter, Erin, received a scholarship in 2001. Our girls have benefited greatly from my husband's association with AAST, and once they are through with school, you can bet that we will be making our donations to the AAST Scholarship Fund, where they count! I know what a great gift this has been for this family!

Thank you!

Barb Williamson