SCHOLARSHIPS PROVIDE MUCH MORE THAN FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE
Navy veteran Cameron Markowitz ‘18 joined the military at the age of 19 and served six years as an aviation rescue swimmer, door gunner and crew chief. After his military service — during which he was deployed twice — he knew his next step: complete his undergraduate degree.
“The University of San Diego has the best business school in San Diego and a fantastic program for veterans, so it made for a seamless transition,” says Markowitz.
Scholarships made a significant impact on his personal bottom line as a real estate student. He says that not having to stress about finances helped him earn higher grades. “I received a 90 percent discount on my education through scholarships, which was a huge financial blessing,” he says. “More importantly, being awarded these scholarships gave me a great sense of pride and honor.”
The Burnham-Moores Center for Real Estate offers more than $230,000 in scholarships annually for real estate students at the USD School of Business. Markowitz described the scholarship application process as seamless.
“The center’s team is extremely efficient at delivering scholarship options to students. The process and instructions for each scholarship are very easy to follow,” he says. “I spent approximately five hours on two of my scholarship applications and received more than $6,000 in financial aid.”
The impact of these scholarships offered Markowitz much more than just a financial reward. The process taught him how to brand himself and how to pitch his strengths during job interviews. “I emerged with greatly enhanced interviewing skills and learned how to express my accomplishments in a succinct, impactful and meaningful way,” he says.
Now that he’s graduated with a double major (finance/real estate), Markowitz is looking forward to a bright future. He credits connections he made through the Burnham-Moores Center for Real Estate team with leading him to a job offer as construction and project manager at Hensel Phelps.
“The commercial real estate industry used to be very hard to get into because you would frequently have to learn the various roles while on the job,” he says. “USD has built a top-notch real estate program with quality professors and instructors from the industry. The practical education, hands-on learning and networking opportunities make it much easier for students to break into the field and be well-prepared for their first job after graduation.”
Markowitz strongly encourages USD students to apply for the vast number of real estate scholarships offered through the Burnham-Moores Center for Real Estate. “Many students may associate scholarships with being awarded to only those in need of financial aid, but most of the real estate scholarships are merit-based and factor in the individual’s contributions of service to the community,” he says. — Kimberly Malasky
Leave a Reply