2025 Extra Space Storage College Scholarship Winners | Extra Space Storage

The 2025 There’s Space for Everyone
Scholarship Winners

Learn more about the 2025 winners and how they plan to use their awards to further their educations.


Gabrielle Smith

Umayr Ahmed

Senior

What school do you attend?
University of Michigan, Ann Arbor

What is your major?
Biopsychology, Cognition, and Neuroscience

What are your plans after school?
After graduation, I hope to pursue a career in medicine while staying connected to public health, especially efforts to improve access to care. I’m passionate about reaching underserved communities, including those who are uninsured or low-income. Over time, I want to combine clinical practice with work that makes healthcare more accessible and better serves those who have traditionally faced barriers.

What is/was your favorite subject in school?
My favorite subject has been neuroscience, especially courses focused on perception and cognition. It’s fascinating to learn about how we interpret the world around us.

What are your hobbies?
In my free time, I enjoy running (I completed my first marathon last year), playing soccer, watching Real Madrid, and following Michigan football and the Detroit Lions. I also enjoy reading and exploring new hiking trails.

Gabrielle Smith
Cole Young
Cole Young

James Miller

Freshman

What school do you attend?
Harvard University

What is your major?
Government and Economics

What are your plans after school?
In the future, I aspire to be a policymaker or elected official in order to effectuate the inclusive and equitable world I want to see. I will likely go to law school to gain a better understanding of the institutions that run our society.

What is/was your favorite subject in school?
My favorite subject in school is US History. It’s interesting to learn how this country went through many hardships and struggles over the past 250 years, but more interesting were the stories of people who once lived lives like ourselves. Realizing that the people who came before us are just like us makes history so much more fascinating!

What are your hobbies?
I love participating in speech and debate, whether running drills or developing my rhetoric, and it’s something I’ll likely continue at Harvard. I also enjoy trying new local restaurants with friends and experiencing new cuisines, alongside my two shiba inu dogs I adore. I also like to binge TV shows, particularly law-related dramas like Suits or The Good Wife.

Brandy Fox

Tiera Moultrie

Senior

What school do you attend?
Wayne State University

What is your major?
Psychology with a minor in Applied Behavior Analysis

What are your plans after school?
I plan to test for my Board Certified Assistant Behavior Analyst (BCaBA) certification and pursue a Master of Social Work (MSW). I also plan to open Detroit’s first adaptive and inclusive play gym.

What is/was your favorite subject in school?
My favorite subject is art, or anything creative.

What are your hobbies?
As a mom of three, full-time student, entrepreneur, and practicum student, I don’t have much time for hobbies. But when I do, I enjoy baking chocolate cookies and binge-watching a movie series.

Brandy Fox
Irene Choi
Irene Choi

Aarav Nambiar

Freshman

What school do you attend?
University of Illinois-Chicago

What is your major?
Biomedical Engineering

What are your plans after school?
I plan to attend medical school through the University of Illinois–Chicago’s 7-year BS/MD program. While I’m still exploring specialties, I know I want to become a doctor and use medicine to make a meaningful impact. In the future, I hope to practice in Illinois and continue serving my community.

What is/was your favorite subject in school?
My favorite subject is biology. It’s a subject that makes me excited to learn.

What are your hobbies?
I love tennis. I’ve been playing since I was five and have competed in tournaments for several years. Lately, though, pickleball has been slowly becoming my new favorite.

Ann Ubaka

Jay Sundar

Freshman

What school do you attend?
University of Pennsylvania

What is your major?
Finance at The Wharton School

What are your plans after school?
I am fascinated by using finance to build community urban development, and using technology and finance to help businesses. I am not sure exactly what I want to do yet, but definitely something that creates change and makes a difference.

What is/was your favorite subject in school?
My favorite subject is social studies. Whether human geography or economics, social studies will always be my favorite.

What are your hobbies?
I like to play tennis, learn about the stock market, scroll on Instagram, and hang out with friends in my free time.

Ann Ubaka
Gabriella Rios
Xavier Heshmaty

Becky North

Graduate Student

What school do you attend?
Colorado State University

What is your major?
Master of Ecosystem Science and Sustainability

What are your plans after school?
I want to work in environmental data analysis for natural resources sustainability. By tracking the actual changes in natural resources and their consumption, we can make better informed decisions on how to avoid over-use and depletion of resources like water and plants.

What is/was your favorite subject in school?
My favorite subjects are ecology and conservation biology. Ecology, the study of how living organisms interact with each other and the environment, was especially interesting. For example, bryophytes are super cool, non-vascular plants that absorb nutrients and water through their leaves because they have no roots. They provide ecological services like nutrient cycling and transpiration.

What are your hobbies?
In my spare time I like to crochet, compete in 5k or 10k races, hike, ride my bike around Fort Collins, and watch anime or sci-fi.

MEGAN ROBERTSON

Amber Oranje

Sophmore

What school do you attend?
Mendocino Community College

What is your major?
Nursing, Registered Nursing Program (RN)

What are your plans after school?
I want to work in the emergency department as an RN and help as many people as I can. I also plan to earn my bachelor’s degree and become trauma certified.

What is/was your favorite subject in school?
My favorite subjects are emergency nursing and clinical rotations

What are your hobbies?
I love fishing, riding my motorcycle, and spending time with friends and family.

MEGAN ROBERTSON
Melissa Moore
Melissa Moore

Katherine Sanchez

Junior

What school do you attend?
California State University, Northridge

What is your major?
Professional Accountancy

What are your plans after school?
I plan to obtain my CPA license and use my skills to serve the Hispanic community. I’m fascinated by small businesses and have seen firsthand the lack of access many Hispanic entrepreneurs face. My goal is to provide transparent, accessible services that empower my community to thrive. I hope to either join a firm that shares these values or open my own office offering tax, accounting, and mortgage education in multiple languages.

What is/was your favorite subject in school?
My favorite subject is accounting because it combines problem-solving, math, structure, and pattern recognition with logic and common sense.

What are your hobbies?
I love spending time with my family. I especially enjoy watching my boys’ soccer and baseball games, my daughter’s cheer practice, going for walks together, and grabbing ice cream to catch up. My family keeps me grounded, and time with them recharges my energy.

THANK YOU TO ALL PARTICIPANTS!


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