Hello! My name is Oliver Smock,

...and I am extremely grateful and honored to have been chosen as a recipient for the Grossman Scholarship for the 2025-2026 school year. I’m currently enrolled at the Colorado Mountain College - Steamboat Campus, and will be transferring to Colorado State University in the Fall of 2025 in pursuit of a degree in Ecosystem Science and Sustainability. Growing up in Colorado endowed me with the great privilege of recreating on our vast public lands, and those experiences founded my deep respect and adoration for nature. 

Upon graduating from high school, I was feeling very directionless, so I decided not to start college immediately and instead got a job with Mile High Youth Corps building and maintaining trails in southern Colorado. The rich experiences I gained serving three terms of service with them led me to realize I want to pursue a career in natural resource management because future generations also deserve a world with natural resources to enjoy.

After thinking deeply about what it would mean to pursue a degree in ecological sciences, especially one with thorough hands-on experiences, starting school again became the right choice for me. Colorado Mountain College (CMC) was the perfect place for me to embark on my learning journey. I discovered a community of fantastic professors that helped me tremendously in reengaging my love of learning and granted me new experiences in the realm of natural resources. CMC has provided me with some very important tools and skills, and I’m excited to bring them to Colorado State University in the fall. I’m looking forward to more opportunities on a larger campus to engage with research and further my academic skills. Because of this decision, my tuition will increase enough that I will struggle to afford school. I fully intend on completing my degree because my next step will be graduate school to learn how I can best apply my skills and knowledge to the contentious world of natural resources conservation and management. With this scholarship, my financial burden will be lifted significantly, and I will be able to focus solely on my academic development. 

With the free time I will gain not having to work, I will be able to pursue volunteering, which has not been something very accessible to me. I hope to give back to my community what I can because, spending my first two years of college in the Yampa Valley, I have seen firsthand the value a passionate individual can bring to a community. Seeing how change always starts small, I plan to do what I can when I can do it, and hope that the rest of the world will follow suit.