LeAnn Adam has been part of the Honors College for the past 10 years, serving as the director of National and Global Scholarships Advising, where she works with students as they explore and apply for competitive scholarship opportunities. She supports them in identifying programs that fit their goals, strengthening their applications and navigating each step of the process. LeAnn is passionate about helping students see their strengths and share their stories with confidence. In this Q&A, she talks about her approach to advising, what motivates her work and more.
Q: What is your role in the Honors College?
National and Global Scholarships Advising supports all OSU students at all OSU campuses and modalities (not just Honors) to apply for select nationally competitive scholarships. As Director, I provide leadership for our small but mighty team, but I also meet with and directly support students on their scholarship application journeys. Our aim is to demystify the process of applying for these scholarships and create transferable learning opportunities along the way. We consider it a win when a student comes away from applying for a scholarship feeling they have invested their time well whether they receive the scholarship or not.
Q: What's one project or initiative you've worked on that you're especially proud of?
Our “Get a DAM Passport” program! We raised funds to offer $175 scholarships for first-year OSU students to obtain a first-time U.S. Passport, prioritizing students with high financial need. This has created a wonderful opportunity for us to get to know students early in their time at OSU and encourage them to apply for national scholarships with our support. The recipients often report back to us all the amazing things they’ve done with their new passports and it’s been so fun to see!
Q: What kind of questions can you answer from honors community members?
We enjoy the opportunity to get to know you! Then we offer potential scholarships to apply for and support with essay writing, articulating career goals, communicating with reference writers, preparation for interviews and encouragement to recognize strengths and communicate them to an often vague or unknown audience. It takes courage for students to put themselves out there for some of these highly competitive scholarships and we believe the potential rewards are worth the effort.
Q: What's something you enjoy doing outside of work?
I am a professional scuba diver! I have my Divemaster qualification so I travel often up to Washington’s Puget Sound or Hood Canal to help with classes or guide dives. I’m primarily a cold-water diver so I spend most of my diving time in a dry suit in 48-52 degree temperatures. One of my favorite places to dive is in British Columbia, off Vancouver Island where I enjoy some of the most beautiful cold water diving in the world. I also volunteer as a diver at the Oregon Coast Aquarium, so if you ever see a diver inside cleaning or tending the sharks, wave hello! Other dive volunteer work I do is with Reef Check where we monitor and work to restore west coast kelp forests. I have many favorite sea creatures, but the one I especially love is sharks. I recently joined a citizen science expedition to the Revillagigedo archipelago where I had the privilege to dive with hammerheads, Galapagos, white tip, silky and many other types of sharks. It was a dream come true.
Q: What's a book, podcast or movie that's inspired you or made you think recently?
I’m currently reading “Into the Waters” by Tara Roberts after meeting her at a PRAX event a few months ago. Tara works with Diving with a Purpose, a non-profit organization that trains volunteer recreational divers to become advocates for ocean conservation and the preservation of maritime heritage, with a special focus on documenting shipwrecks from the African slave trade and other submerged history.
Q: If you had the opportunity to work on an HC thesis today, what do you think the theme or title would be?
I might have missed my calling as a shark researcher, so I would study the mysterious bluntnose sixgill shark. They are deep water sharks, but they turn up in recreational dive depths (<120 feet) in Puget Sound in the summer. Very little is known about them, so I would do research to find out more about why they make an annual summer appearance and show little fear toward and even curiosity toward divers (with a possible “boop” to your camera or mask).
Q: What's one of your favorite memories or moments from working in the Honors College?
I loved this year’s fall fest carnival. It was so fun! I’ve also enjoyed teaching an honors seminar we called “Apply Here” where students choose a scholarship to apply for and mock up a set of materials to either apply in real time or in the future.
Q: What's something you've learned from the HC community that's influenced you?
HC students are incredibly talented and they are also very humble. I’ve come to understand that even the students with the most amazing accomplishments don’t always feel comfortable or confident in writing or speaking about their own potential. The lesson I’ve learned is to not make assumptions about the level of encouragement students might need to pursue opportunities that could be life changing.
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