With all that you have to do in order to navigate college life why would you invest time that you do not think that you have, as well as insert additional stress in your life, in order to apply for one or more scholarships?
Winning a scholarship puts you in a different league and sets you apart in different ways the chief of which is the ability to more effectively network. Another way in which earning a scholarhip sets you apart is that it tells everyone who reviews your resume that you were selected over hundreds and at times thousands of other qualified applicants in order to earn that award.
An example of this is the Rhodes Scholarship. While only 32 slots are available in the United States of America with thousands of students applying for a spot, if you are from the region East Africa or from the country of Pakistan, then only one person from the region of East Africa is selected and one from the country of Pakistan is selected.
To give a more relatable example of how much students can stand out in a crowd with a scholarship, in 2016 out of 3750 applicants, the Gates Foundation accepted only 55 students who then obtained the opportunity to study at Cambridge University in the United Kingdom.
Now, when you are a Jack Kent Cooke Scholar, you become part of a network of JKC Scholars who help one another obtain research opportunities, establish businesses, land interviews, find jobs, and even purchase houses to name but some perquisites (perks); those perks include having a social network of acquaintances, associates and friends.
Another bonus with schoparship is that you might get financial counseling or mentorship from a Grants officer in order to better manage your Pot o’ Gold. This may not seem important; however, it is excessively important. Helping you to manage your money positions you to have good money-saving, as well as money-allotment, habits and in turn having won a scholarship psychologically sets the stage for students to create their own scholarship foundations or programs to give to others what had been offered to them. We tend to treat others as we have been treated. This is why we should always treat others with care and deep respect even if we have not gotten it, so that those with whom we come into contact might have a better life experience as a result of having me us; with that, they might then treat others better themselves, thereby setting the stage to have paradise on Earth.
According to the Institute for College Access and Success, at graduation students’average debt “ranged from $18,350 in Utah to $39,950 in New Hampshire, and new graduates’ likelihood of having debt varied from 39 percen in Utah to 73 percent in South Dakota.” As of December 2021, New York State has over 2.4 million borrowers with a total debt of $92.7 billion. At the time of this post, we are six months into 2022 and still reeling from the effects of COVID-19. What will the debt be by then?
Would you rather borrow or try to partake of the funds that still remain to be disbursed as scholarship money? In case this does not answer the reason why scholarships are important for you, note that students often refrain from attending college or refrain from studying in an area that bespeaks their passion because of the lack of not only their lack of funds but also because they or their family members (if they are dependents) may not qualify for any significant financial aid. Imagine applying to the college of your choice and entering $0 in the section for how much financial assistance you will require.
If you still are not convinced why it is worth the effort and time to apply for scholarships, let us consider the following:
Professional Experience (some scholarships mandate an internship component; if yours does not, then volunteer or find a comparable internship to show your commitment to the field); try to apply to as many scholarships as possible that also feature a professional component, since that provides you with an edge with respect to networking in your industry.
If you have excellent grades, then with a scholarship or even several scholarships, the world is yours with respect to accessing the best institutions on the Planet which, in turn, positions you to have even greater networking opportunities.
Above all, students who receive scholarships that cover a large portion or all of their tuition and expenses obtain the opportunity to experience undergraduate life to the fullest; the same holds if the student is a graduate student– all of the perquisites of graduate school are theirs to explore. As a scholarship recipient, instead of working full-time or holding down three to four part-time gigs or jobs, you get to attend seminars, colloquia, conferences, workshops, plays, concerts, art shows, as well as conduct research and so much more.
PowerPoint Presentation (21 June 2022, SIG Workshop)
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