Janis Forse Wells knows what it’s like to face adversity. When she was a UT undergrad in the mid-1960s she was studying to be a teacher and she was a single mom. She struggled to balance parenthood with being a successful student. “I know how difficult it is to be in school, trying to be a good parent and trying to get an education for a better life for your child,” she says.
“If I can make it possible for someone else, I want to because creating a better world for the next generation by providing excellent teachers has always been something I would like to do,” she says. She knows that the college experience can be life-changing. “When I was a student at UT my professors kindled the idea within me that I could achieve what I set my mind to do.”
Wells recently established the Janis Forse Wells Endowed Scholarship in Elementary Education and left an additional gift to UT in her will to support the scholarship. She wants to help other young single parents who are working hard to achieve their dream of teaching. “This is something I can do now, and when I’m gone, I can continue to support students as my legacy.”
“The power of being able to give to others at this time in life is an incredible feeling,” she says.
“I encourage others to understand how great the need is and to understand at the same time, how simple it is to help someone else through a gift like a scholarship,” Wells says. “I hope that we, as alumni and friends of the college, can offer even more partial or full scholarships so that students going into teaching or health careers from the College of Education will graduate without debt.”
