ChemE junior and Armstrong Scholar Arin Greenwood shares similarities with her scholarship benefactor, Mary Armstrong (BS ’79). She has a passion for chemistry, a desire to have a range of career options available after graduation, and has been inspired and supported by her sacrificing single mother. She is first student to be awarded the Armstrong Scholarship in Chemical Engineering recipient.
Hailing from a small California town, Arin’s desire to attend the University of Washington was two-fold. “Economically, there wasn’t a significant difference between a UC and the UW. And after visiting a few times I had already fallen in love with Seattle,” she said. “I dreamed of moving to what is in my opinion the greatest city and center of art, science, music, and culture in America. I now consider Seattle to be my home.” Starting at the UW in 2010, Arin considered several factors before deciding to major in Chemical Engineering. “I wanted to pursue my passion for chemistry and science, and also wanted to be in a field with so many career possibilities and diverse post-graduation paths so as to not limit myself to academia or research.” Career options she is considering include working in nanotechnology and microdevices, in semiconductor manufacturing, as a process engineer in energy or biotechnology, or becoming a professor. After interning this summer at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, she hopes to work there while earning her PhD.
But before starting her career, Arin is taking advantage of being a UW student. She is in the University marching band, is a swing dancer and archer, and is minoring in math and anthropology. “To me, an education would not be nearly as valuable without taking advantage of as many opportunities as possible,” she said. “I feel that it is not enough to simply excel in one field of study without exploring additional opportunities — whether these are academic or simply for fun.” In addition to the extracurricular and academics, Arin has worked at the Nanotechnology User Facility on campus and held paid internships to help pay for her education, including rent and loan payments. Receiving the Armstrong Scholarship this year, will help her and her mother pay for college.
Like alumna Mary Armstrong, Arin’s mother encouraged her to follow her dreams and sacrificed to make those dreams come true. “My mother has absolutely been supportive of my education from day one, and is the primary reason I am here now. She was not in a science field—she studied design in college and is a young adult author and freelance writer—but has always encouraged me to follow my dreams and helped to make those dreams become a reality for me,” Arin said. “She is balancing three jobs and took out loans for nearly all of my tuition. She constantly makes sacrifices for my future and education, and for this I could not be more grateful.”
Armstrong’s mother also helped pay for her education. Her mother served as a role model, working full time, raising a family, and taking night classes to earn her accounting degree. Armstrong is now making it easier for students to earn a ChemE degree through funding from the Armstrong Scholarship in Chemical Engineering, established in 2012.
While she has yet to meet her scholarship benefactor, Arin is inspired by Mary Armstrong’s career and appreciates her support. “I am particularly proud to be connected to Mary by this scholarship and our shared goals and enthusiasm for science and engineering,” she said. “I am honored and grateful to receive this scholarship, and look forward to the day when I will be able to donate to the UW’s chemical engineering scholarship fund as well in order to aid and encourage future generations of women in science and engineering.”