Student wins scholarship by writing about Waukesha parade tragedy

When Ella Pittman, an incoming sophomore at Concordia University was searching for scholarship opportunities earlier this year, one about community caught her eye. BriteCo, a jewelry insurance provider, was offering a $3,000 scholarship for a themed essay: The impact of community.

Pittman’s first-hand experiences at the Waukesha Christmas Parade tragedy came to mind. Six people died and more than 60 were injured when Darrell E. Brooks Jr. drove through the crowd gathered to watch the parade Nov. 21, 2021.

On that day, Pittman, a Waukesha native who went to Waukesha South High School, had been walking alongside the Waukesha South Marching Band, handing out candy to children watching the parade.

"The moment seemed to go in slow motion, as I watched things I cannot even begin to describe," Pittman wrote in her scholarship essay, describing the tragedy unfolding. "So many people rushed in to help people they did not even know, I saw kids from school who were not friends hugging each other and supporting one another."

Pittman said aside from the panic, there was an overwhelming feeling of love.

“It just felt like something that I had, that was something I could talk about,” Pittman said. “It’s hard to explain because it’s not something comparable to another experience … It just instantly clicked.”

Pittman said this "overwhelming feeling" continued, as she witnessed a number of people doing fundraisers or donating what they could. She said she also saw many visuals, such as people making or wearing shirts with the “Waukesha Strong” logo and nearly every house in the neighborhood with blue lights on their porches.

Pittman, herself, got involved with giving back to the Waukesha community. Before coming home from college for winter break last year, Pittman gave a presentation to one of her classes, talking about the Waukesha tragedy and about an ornament fundraiser her high school was doing.

The Waukesha South Music Department also donated 100% of profits from its annual "cookie walk fundraiser" to the parade memorial.

“It was a little bit hard in the beginning because it was the first time I had really reflected on it, but it was also really nice just to be forced to reflect on the positive aspects that came out of it,” Pittman said.

Once she got started, Pittman said the writing didn’t take long.

“It was one of the quickest things I've written, just because it was so significant of a thing,” Pittman said. “(The aftermath) is still so prominent, everything was able to come to me so quickly.”

Dustin Lemick, founder and CEO of BriteCo, headquartered in Evanston, Illinois, said Pittman’s essay stood out for its “raw and honest” recounting of such a devastating event.

After whittling the submissions to six finalists, everyone involved with the vetting process had a vote on the final.

“It was unanimous, honestly,” Lemick said. “Her essay was outstanding and very impactful. She was just so connected to this experience. It was really good.”

The email announcing she had won came as a surprise to Pittman.

“I was a little thrown off guard. I just wasn't expecting to win, but I was very excited and appreciative,” Pittman said.

Lemick said the company created the BriteCo scholarship as a way to encourage the value of community. With Northwestern University in their neighborhood, Lemick said the company has always felt a deep-rooted connection to their own community.

“We just really value it. And so we wanted to give. It's given us a lot, too," Lemick said.

Lemick said the company received over 3,000 submissions from across the country.

Lemick said it was nice to see the wide range of essays from all the submissions. But he said there were common themes as well.

“A pretty common theme for most of these was through some vehicle or some reason that a community binds together,” Lemick said. “Reading through them all, I mean, you could really tell a lot of these folks put in a lot of effort. I think it really showed how much community means."

Contact Skyler Chun at schun@gannett.com. Follow her on Twitter at @skylerchun_.

This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Scholarship winner writes about Waukesha parade tragedy