Surprise! TOSC scholarship recipients awarded twice as much as expected Published April 22, 2016 By Kimberly Woodruff Staff Writer TINKER AIR FORCE BASE, Okla. -- Fourteen scholarship winners showed up to the April 13 Tinker Officers' Spouses' Club luncheon knowing they would walk out with money to help with their college experiences. In the end, they left with double the expected amount, thanks to a generous donation from the guest speaker. A total of $15,000 was raised for the scholarships, which included funds from the Tinker Thrift Shop and donations from Tinker Federal Credit Union and First Command. However, guest speaker Jill Donovan, owner of Rustic Cuffs, felt inspired to match the amount. Ms. Donovan gave a funny, lighthearted talk about life and how sometimes people don't see the plan or blueprint for their life until after they're looking back on it. She began with one of her favorite quotes, "Do what you love and you'll never work a day in your life," a cliché that she really wanted for her life. "I never knew what I wanted to do," said Ms. Donovan. When she was young, she sought out new hobbies in hopes of finding the one thing that she could do for her life and be happy. Ms. Donovan wanted to be fluent in Russia and live in Russia, but that didn't happen. She tried tap dancing and ice skating. She even became an attorney. The thing was, she didn't love being an attorney. She thought about going back to her first love of broadcasting. She could start a new career and be a broadcaster. She wanted to model her career after Oprah Winfrey. When she couldn't get tickets to the see a taping of Ms. Winfrey's show, she went online and discovered she could be a guest on the show. Ms. Donovan picked the topic of re-gifting, wrote a funny letter and got a call from producers inviting her to the show. "It was everything I wanted and then some," she said. The show she was asked to participate in was on etiquette. Ms. Donovan was there for being a re-gifter. Little did she know, Ms. Winfrey had two etiquette experts on the show also. The experts said they thought Ms. Donovan was rude and tacky for re-gifting. "I was mortified!" Ms. Donovan said. "I lost my hearing and tears filled my eyes. I couldn't even defend myself." Ms. Donovan said the "experts" just went on and on. She was devastated in front of more than 20 million people. She learned from that experience. The humiliation had some significance in her life. "The pain was devastating, but it was somehow part of the plan and it was easier to embrace it than to fight it," she said. "One night I wanted to do something I loved, not for money or to be famous, but I wanted to create -- I wanted to follow my heart and my passion." So began her Rustic Cuffs bracelets that she initially made to give to friends. That was four years ago. "I thank Oprah. If that had not happened, I wouldn't have done it," said Ms. Donovan. She decided to send cuffs to people in the media, who would essentially advertise for her. She sent one to Gayle King -- who happens to be Ms. Winfrey's best friend -- and she wore it on her show. Later Ms. Donovan learned Ms. King had actually re-gifted the bracelet to Ms. Winfrey, who wore it on a magazine cover. "That was a full circle moment and I couldn't have scripted it better," said Ms. Donovan. She told the scholarship recipients that even though they can't see the blueprint for their lives, they should embrace each plank they get because if they reject it they might miss an important part of their foundation. "Don't compare your chapter one to someone else's chapter 20," she said. "If you miss learning what you need in chapter one, you'll be looking at someone else's story. Follow your passion."