Annual Meeting Scholarship Follow-Up Article

By: Meredith Rasnic

Each summer at Annual Meeting, Oklahoma Electric Cooperative awards several consumer-
members with a $1000 scholarship. The names are randomly chosen and the drawing always
makes for a fun surprise for a few lucky members.

This year, both Heidi Fish and Linda Matthesen were awarded the cash scholarships and we
followed up with them to see how they plan to use their funds to complete or further their
education.

When Heidi Fish and her husband, Lyndel, arrived to the Lloyd Noble Center for OEC’s Annual
Meeting last August, she was unsure of what to expect and certainly didn’t expect to go home
with a cash scholarship.

“Lyndel told me he saw that OEC was having a meeting and dinner and thought we should go
and see what they had to say,” Fish said. Upon their arrival, Lyndel noticed a table where you
could enter to win a $1000 scholarship and he wrote Heidi’s name down.

“A little while later we were sitting down in the stands and they said they were going to
announce the scholarship winners. I never win anything like that and so it was a big surprise to
hear my name called first!” Fish exclaimed. “I was so excited!”

Fish is currently a full-time student at the University of Central Oklahoma where she is earning a
degree in organizational leadership studies and also works at Alliance Health Midwest where
she deciphers Medicare regulations.

“I am already a part of the healthcare field and plan to stay in it, but am looking forward to
putting the skills and tools I am learning in class into practice,” Fish said. My classes have
provided me with informative and practical leadership training, as well as technical training.

It is invigorating to learn how to further develop and encourage my co-workers. Additionally,

these days, much of my job revolves around technology and new tools. I joke that I can barely
Skype and so I have definitely had to adapt and acquire some more advanced technology skills.”

Fish says that as the medical field is changing, she is excited for the challenge of keeping up and
finds it rather fun! Her degree from UCO is allowing her to not only keep up with changing
trends, but excel in her field.

“I want to take this opportunity to thank OEC for providing me with this scholarship. We are
paying for my school out of pocket and it is definitely an added expense. I really do appreciate
all OEC has done for us over the years and this is another example of ways they serve their
members well. Thank you all again!” she said.
 The second scholarship winner is Linda Matthesen, another adult continuing her
education. Linda says she still can’t believe her name was chosen out of everyone at Annual
Meeting. “I was surprised and stunned! Like what in the world?” she exclaimed.

“I have always been an advocate of life-long learning, simply because I love to learn and
never want to stop pursuing growth,” Matthesen said. “It really would be my dream to be a life-
long student and somehow be paid for it! I have been planning to return to school and this is
the perfect time, especially now that I have been awarded a scholarship from OEC.”

She is currently enrolled in medical coding prep courses at the Moore-Norman

technology Southwest Campus in Oklahoma City. Those classes will begin at the end of January
and then the actual medical coding class will take place in the fall,” Matthesen said.

“I have a bachelor’s degree in math from the University of Oklahoma and in recent
years, have taken some steps back to be more accessible to my children and family,” she says.
“My children are older now and I am excited for the opportunity to model for them that it’s
never too late to learn something new and put my philosophy of being a life-long learner into
action for them to see.”

Matthesen says that after taking these medical coding courses and then taking a test,
she will be able to receive her full certification. “Medical coding is becoming more popular and
more necessary and it is exciting to me that I get to branch out of the area I have been working
in to take on a new task and learn a new skill,” she says.

“I want to express again how grateful to OEC I am for this opportunity and the
scholarship money. It took me by such surprise and is a huge help to me and my family,”
Matthesen concludes.

As a cooperative, and according to the cooperative principles, it is OEC’s mission to

equip and empower our consumer-members with the tools they need to be successful in life.
Cooperatives work to provide education- or funds for education-to our members. We are so
excited for both Heidi and Linda and wish them the best of luck in their upcoming endeavors.