Alex Owen, once a lead runner for the Boothbay Region High School cross country team, now attends Wentworth Technical Institute in Boston, Massachusetts. He is studying computer engineering technology. Owen hopes to work in this field with others of like minds to understand and advance technology.

A 2013 graduate of Boothbay Region High School, Owen holds the Rowe Metcalf Named Scholarship, one of the Boothbay Region Student Aid Fund’s 60-plus scholarships.

Wentworth Technical Institute’s program of giving each student a laptop and its affiliation with the Colleges of the Fenway or COF, drew Owen to the school. Students who attend Wentworth are offered abundant opportunities. As one of the six neighboring colleges along with Simmons, Massachusetts College of Art and Design, Wheelock, Emmanuel and Massachusetts’ College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences; students at Wentworth may register to attend classes and experiences offered by all of the colleges in this consortium. Combined classes and opportunities offered at the Colleges of the Fenway include studying abroad, performing arts groups, science labs as well as intramural sports and general camaraderie on the various campuses including two shared dining rooms for students to choose from.

Owen had a natural aptitude for technology. As a child he was curious and liked to take gadgets apart to see how they worked. He was further encouraged and inspired by his high school science teacher at BRHS, Emily Higgins, who taught an engineering and programming course, alerting Owen to the combined field.

Owen has taken advantage of some of what the city of Boston, which boasts over 50 post-secondary institutions and countless humanities choices, has to offer.

“I have explored many aspects of Boston,” Owen said. “I have been to the Museum of Fine Arts, many times for class and on my own. I have been to one Red Sox game at nearby Fenway; it happened to be the year they won the World Series. The aquarium is also a very cool place and is near historic Faneuil Hall.”

Though Owen isn’t running for Wentworth this year, he is focused on his studies and greatly appreciates his many opportunities to live and study in the most collegiate atmosphere in the entire country.

“I want to thank BRSAF for helping me to attend Wentworth,” Owen said.

Owen’s studies at Wentworth are supported by the BRSAF’s Rowe B, Metcalf, Jr. Memorial Scholarship.

Born in Boston in 1925, Rowe Metcalf attended the Dexter School in Brookline, and Choate in Connecticut, before serving in World War II. After the war, he attended Bowdoin and worked in the family cotton business in Rhode Island and New York before retiring to Southport in 1979. An avid sailor and past commodore of the Southport Yacht Club, he afforded a generation of young SYC sailors the opportunity to hone their skills while crewing for him in weekly club races. The BRSAF believes Rowe would have been overjoyed to name Alex Owen among the beneficiaries of his generosity. 

The BRSAF always welcomes financial support. Contributions to the BRSAF can be sent to P.O. Box 293, Boothbay Harbor, Maine 04538. For more information, go to https://sites.google.com/site/boothbayregionstudentaidfund.