Community service is crucial for this scholarship recipient

October 28, 2025 Paying for College

As a child, Elizabeth Hastings was a cyclone of goodwill spinning around her hometown of Grantham: picking up trash along the road with her grandmother, pushing a broom around the fire station where her dad was the fire chief, holding a bake sale to support the library where she did her homework in the afternoons, or assembling holiday baskets at a local nonprofit.

It was the kindness of others that had set her in motion. Elizabeth’s parents had married young and sacrificed a lot for their family. They both had serious health issues that strained their time and finances.

“There were a lot of people in our lives that gave us extra hands, like food when we needed it, or taking care of my sisters and me so my parents could take night classes,” said Elizabeth, a 2025 Granite Edvance Scholarship recipient. “There is nothing that I can do that can repay that kindness. I really just want to put it back in the community.”

Now in her senior year at Plymouth State University, where she’s majoring in Environmental Science and Policy, Elizabeth is devoting her energy to a second community. In her various roles at PSU, she’s organized community cleanup events, participated in science education programming at local schools, founded a sustainable crafts club, and served as a campus “tree advisor.”

“When I have the opportunity to give back, I’m like, ‘This is what I need to do with my life,’” said Elizabeth, who spent the summer running science programs for kids at the Montshire Museum in Norwich, Vt. “Service has been a part of my life forever and will be a part of my life forever.”

Receiving a Granite Edvance Scholarship helps fuel her fire. “This scholarship is a huge thing for me,” Elizabeth said. “I wouldn’t be able to go to school and get my degree so I could give back without support like this.”

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