“I would like to thank you so much for awarding me one of your textbook scholarships for this year! I was so happy when I found out today, and I cannot thank you enough. Textbooks are quite expensive, and this scholarship really helps. I truly appreciate your kindness towards me. I am thoroughly enjoying my Geography 7 course this quarter. I have loved learning more about the world and how oil affects economies, health, and many other aspects of life. I will definitely continue to take geography classes, and cannot wait to learn more.”
The above thank you note is from one of the recipients of this quarter’s Landon Romano Textbook Scholarship, and it exemplifies how effective Landon’s named fund has been in ‘giving back to the department that made a positive difference in his career.’ The scholarship is given out each quarter to undergraduates enrolled in one of our lower division courses to assist in the purchase of their textbooks. To qualify, students are asked to submit a brief statement about why they are taking their introductory Geography class and what they hope to gain from it. There were 25 applications for the award from students taking Geography 3A (Oceans & Atmosphere), Geography 7 (Oil and Water), and Geography 8 (Global Warming) this quarter, and the 3 winners of the $125 awards were:
- Brenden Kung: “Given the current economic and environmental crisis, the topic of energy resources and global warming are constantly being brought up in the news, the classroom, and even day to day conversations. With my limited knowledge on these subjects, I enrolled in Geography 7: Oil and Water to hopefully gain a thorough enough understanding to participate in these debates rather than act as the audience. I am even enrolled in a freshman seminar about energy, which discusses many of the same topics. At the same time, this class also allows me to explore the field of geography as a career.”
- George Stoddard: “Coming into UCSB, I had no idea what I wanted to major in. I am still rather uncertain. This quarter, along with many fellow freshmen, I was unable to enroll in the classes I wanted to take. I even struggled getting enough units to be considered a full-time student. Lucky enough for me however, I stumbled across Geography of Oil and Water. As a freshman in high school, my favorite subject was geography of the world. I found it fascinating; it is such a dynamic study, involving various aspects such as politics, culture, and geology. Perhaps in the midst of such a crisis I will rediscover my love for the study of geography. I am sincerely looking forward to what I will learn from Professor Gautier.”
- Kelsey Tibbetts: “This past quarter I decided to switch out of the Biology major and take more classes that I was interested in. My dad was a Geography major at UCSB and always encouraged me to take a geography course. I have always had a deep interest in the environment and global issues, and this quarter I am happy to have the opportunity to pursue these interests through Geography 7—Oil and Water. From this class I hope to broaden my knowledge of the global oil crisis as well as create my own thoughts regarding solutions to these problems for the future.”
Landon received his BA in Geography at UCSB in 1999, worked for software developers in the Bay area for the next few years, and then went back to grad school and received an MBA from Baylor in 2008. Landon established the Romano Textbook fund in 2004 and continues to support it generously; he has the distinction of being the youngest alumnus of our Department to ever fund a Geography scholarship. Thanks, Landon, from all of us!
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