Tessa Snyder with a copy of ‘The Jungle,’ the book about which she wrote her scholarship essay. Courtesy/Michael P Young Photography

LAPSF News:

Tessa Snyder is the recipient of the June Ettinger Memorial Scholarship.

Ettinger was a long-time resident of Los Alamos. For more than 20 years, she taught third and fourth grade at Barranca Mesa and Mountain Elementary Schools. She read extensively, and was frequently at the Mesa Public Library. 

A recent Los Alamos High School graduate, Synder wrote her essay about the book, The Jungle, by Upton Sinclair.

Snyder said of The Jungle:  “This book influenced much of my aspiration to serve my fellow man and increased my understanding of the human condition. The novel also made me see the desperation that can occur when someone, who began life with hope, is hit hard by unfortunate circumstances.

“Life, it turns out, is not like a Disney movie ─ people hit hard times and, even with hard work, cannot pull through. As a public health administrator and epidemiologist, I can help take care of and educate people as well as effect policy changes that can increase the care and education of our people.

“The Jungle absolutely was a call for political action and social change in its time and this spirit for action influenced me.”

“Ettinger would be very pleased that a scholarship was established in her name, jointly managed by the Friends of Los Alamos County Libraries and the Los Alamos Public Schools Foundation, to assist Los Alamos High School graduates like Tessa Snyder in completing their college education,” LAPSF Executive Director Joanna Gillespie said.