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MTECH provides scholarship as rodeo raffle prize

By Ashtyn Asay - | Aug 7, 2022

Courtesy Alice Giatras

Alice Giatras and Evan Rosencrantz attending the Oakley Rodeo in Oakley on July 4, 2022.

Alice Giatras didn’t expect to win when she entered her name into a raffle at the Oakley Rodeo on July 4.

“I was like ‘okay, might as well enter myself in because why not? What’s the worst that could happen?'” she said. “I didn’t expect to actually get the scholarship.”

After entering the raffle with low expectations and high hopes, Giatras won free tuition to attend Mountainland Technical College in Orem.

MTECH offers more than 50 programs to prepare students for careers in healthcare, automotive, technology, manufacturing and more.

According to Maile Richardson, senior director of communications and student success for MTECH, representatives from the school didn’t plan on holding the raffle. They were approached by a member of the Oakley Rodeo committee who offered to sponsor a student’s education at the school with rodeo funds.

“We were proud to support our community over in Oakley… it was kind of a last-minute thing that we were really excited to throw together,” Richardson said.

Giatras didn’t actually hear her name get called when the raffle winner was announced at the rodeo, so she was shocked when an MTECH representative called her later to inform her she won the full-tuition scholarship.

“It was kind of crazy because I’ve never won anything before,” she said.

Giatras will start in the Diesel Technology program at MTECH in August. She had previously attended classes at MTECH while in high school and had been considering going back to further her education before she won free tuition.

“I was going to go to UVU and do their diesel mechanic program,” she said. “Then I got this scholarship and I was like ‘well, I guess I’m going back to MTECH.'”

Giatras first entered the world of diesel mechanics in 2018 when she joined the Utah Army National Guard. While she wasn’t sure about the field at first, she soon realized that she’d found her passion.

“I’ve come to love it, and I want to open my own shop one day,” she said.

As a woman working in a male-dominated field, Giatras has been overwhelmed by the outpouring of support from the Oakley community as well as MTECH as she prepares to take the next steps in her career as a diesel mechanic.

“It’s really great to know that there are people who do support females in this tough environment, and who are willing to give money to a student to go further their education,” Giatras said.

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