Unsure if she’d choose to go to college, Rachel Joshua, a Tabor 100 Scholarship recipient, officially graduated from the University of Washington’s Foster School of Business in Winter Quarter 2025, majoring in business & sociology and minoring in data science. At first, Rachel said she didn’t see college as a realistic option and was even planning on taking a gap year after graduating high school to better understand herself and what direction she wanted to go in.

However, Rachel said factors such as being accepted into UW, combined with receiving a Tabor 100 scholarship, encouraged her to pursue her education and take this next step.

“I honestly wasn’t expecting to get it [the Tabor 100 scholarship],” said Rachel. “It was a big deal for me and my family.”

Starting in 2020 at the height of the COVID-19 Pandemic, Rachel said elements like financial support from sources like scholarships, along with feedback she received from senior students at UW, inspired her to take risks she may not have taken. One of the said risks was Rachel’s choice to study abroad after talking with colleagues in their senior year, who, unfortunately, did not get the same opportunity due to the pandemic.

“They said ‘you should study abroad because I wasn’t able to,” said Rachel.

So Rachel did exactly that – twice.

From February to July 2023, Rachel studied abroad in New Zealand, then again in Argentina from January to March 2024. These opportunities created some novel memories and experiences for Rachel such as hiking through the Laguna de los Tres trail in El Chalten, Argentina. Other experiences range from unplanned spotings and meetings with UW Alumni while Rachel was in New Zealand, to attending the 2023 Women’s World Cup there for only $20 a ticket.

“Nobody wanted to go because everybody thought their team was going to lose,” she laughed. “[Traveling abroad] will continue to pay dividends throughout my life.”

While studying abroad played a major role in her collegiate journey, Rachel said she also decided to take a break from studying during UW’s Winter 2022 Quarter to work for a small sales and marketing startup and stay connected with her local community. Emphasizing the importance of remembering when to take breaks, Rachel said choices like taking a quarter off from school helped her realize both what direction she wanted to go, along with recognizing her values and which directions she didn’t want to go in.

“[These experiences helped me] take a step back, reevaluate, reconnect with community and go forward in a more efficient way” Rachel said.

Now graduated, Rachel said she wants to use her experiences towards listening actively and presently with those around her and learn how best she can help people. Rachel also emphasized that her success came from various forms of support from her community, mentors, and organizations like Tabor 100.

“I am not self-made,” Rachel said. “I came from a lot of amazing people and orgs like Tabor.”

For any future scholarship recipients just starting college, some advice Rachel suggested is not to neglect what you want to do while fulfilling your obligations. She emphasized taking bets on opportunities that you believe are worth it. For her, those opportunities have given her clarity about where she wants to work towards and how to best spend her time to get there.

Take time to rest and reflect…or make time,” said Rachel. “As you get to know yourself better and your values, it will be easier to make choices and calculated risks that will get you closer to what success is for you.”