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Bob, ’86, and Cindy Bauer, ’87, Poehling met at the University of Nebraska–Lincoln and celebrated their 37th wedding anniversary this year. Their daughter, Nicci Peterson, ’16, also earned her marketing degree at Nebraska.

Ours is a fairly simple story – boy meets girl and boy falls in love with girl. They graduate college, get married, raise a family and become empty nesters. Eventually, they donate a portion of their disposable income to their alma mater. Cindy grew up on a farm northwest of Wahoo and I was born in Omaha. The summer before my senior year in high school we both enrolled at Nebraska more than 40 years ago.

Cindy and I were very fortunate to have attended the university at a time when a couple part-time jobs during the school year and a full-time job over the summers went a long way toward actually covering the financial responsibilities of an education. When the part-time and summer jobs weren’t financially capable of covering all of our expenses, we relied on whatever scholarships we would qualify for and, when necessary, we borrowed money. Fortunately for us, we graduated with a debt obligation that was very manageable, and we were able to pay it off in about four years. We recognize that’s not the norm for grads today.

The two of us take great pride in the degrees we earned here. All of our professional success that we’ve achieved over our life is directly due to the degrees we received here at the University of Nebraska. Every door that was opened, every opportunity that was afforded to us would not have been possible without our college degrees. Growing up, both of us were also very lucky to have parents who modeled the behavior of giving time, talents and treasures to those in need.

After our kids graduated high school, and we’re deep in the throes of paying college expenses for our three young adults. we quickly became acutely aware of the financial challenges one faces today when securing a college degree. We became trustees and members of the foundation’s Burnett Society by making a planned gift to the university. We decided to endow the scholarship fund while we were still alive so we could witness the fund distribute scholarships to future recipients. With the outstanding effort the foundation performs, and being great stewards of the dollars they collect, our little scholarship will award financial assistance to future generations well into perpetuity long after we leave this earth.

From our experience, I can assure you giving back will be one of the most rewarding experiences of your life. There’s no greater need to be filled than providing some financial support to future generations of Huskers.”