Warm days, cool nights, crunchy leaves. Autumn. The season of apples, pumpkins, football games and...scholarship hunting. Now is the time to look for and apply for scholarships whether a junior or senior in high school or a non-traditional student looking to enroll in college.
If you need information on different ways to pay for a college education, see "Scholarships and Financial Aid" in my 2007 blog file.
Once you've found the scholarships you are interested in and qualify for, apply! But there is more to your application than simply filling in the blanks. Here are some tips for an application that merits a review and may garner the award.
1. Fill out the application completely,leaving no blank spaces, and preferably typed not handwritten.
2. Use correct spelling and proper grammar.
At the acknowledgment of either a missing section or incorrect spelling, the reviewers generally put the application in the rejected pile.
3. Follow the directions. For example, if the application requests that you put N/A to questions that do not apply to you, write in N/A. Do not leave it blank!
4. Avoid writing long lists of accomplishments, service and awards. List only those from the last three years.
5. Quantify and qualify service or volunteer work. Students who are LDS perform a lot of service and much of it comes from opportunities during Mutual. Be specific and keep track of the number of hours you rake leaves, sing at nursing homes, babysit, etc. For example: 15 hours of yard work in community.
6. Find a way to let your personality and who you really are stand out. This is the most difficult part of the application. Most of the students applying for scholarships are very similar to you! They have GPAs, ACT, and SAT scores that are the same or better than yours. They have participated in extracurricular activities, worked at part-time jobs, and served in the community.
So-how do you set yourself apart from the others? In a recent scholarship competition I read one application where the student listed that he was president of the Beards and Jenga Club at his high school. This student was already on the list to be interviewed from our initial review of the applications but that response piqued an additional interest.
The board interviewed this student and awarded him one of the scholarships. He created the interest on his application and then continued to inspire us in the interview by sharing things about his education, his school participation in extracurricular activities, his service in the community and himself (his interests and his family) that were not listed on his application or on his resume. (Note: The Beards and Jenga Club was open to all students who couldn't grow a beard and enjoyed playing Jenga.)
My nephew tried this in a recent job application for a lab assistant. One of his accomplishments was that he had never burned off his eyebrows or eyelashes. Now I don't know if that statement is the one that got him the interview, but he did get an interview and eventually the job.
7. Be honest. This is the most important part of the application process. Lies and deceit will always be found out and will cost you more in "peace of mind and self-respect" (For the Strength of Youth, p.31) than the amount of the scholarship award you might receive.
Good luck during this fall's scholarship hunting season. Go ahead and wear your orange hunting vest if you'd like.
Monday, September 8, 2008
Wednesday, September 3, 2008
Increase Your Flocks
My parents always spoke of college in terms of "when you go" not "if you go" but the day I actually left for college was one for the record books. We left our home and after only 6 miles I started to cry. I cried during the remaining 100 miles and then cried some more when my family left me at my dorm.
I had planned and saved for years and it wasn't that I didn't want to go, I was simply scared of being away from my family and scared of all the big unknowns: Will I be able to find my way around campus? Will I be able to pass my courses? Who are my roommates and will they like me? Will I have any friends?
These are questions that students ask whether they are entering kindergarten or college. In time, students will know the campus, will know what they must do to pass the courses and will make friends, easily or painfully.
How can we help our children start the school year well, regardless of how old they are or the number of years they have attended school?
Amulek taught, "Cry unto his holy name, that he would have mercy upon you...Cry unto him when ye are in your fields, yea, over all your flocks...Cry unto him over the crops of your fields, that ye may prosper in them...Cry over the flocks of your fields, that they may increase." (Alma 34:17, 20, 23, 24)
All things are spiritual to the Lord (D&C 29:34) and He cares about our children's school work and friendships. In fact, many of the struggles our children face may have been designed to bring about the Lord's purposes.
We (both parents and children) need to cry unto Him about school and coursework that our children may prosper in them.
Once my father purchased a very expensive bull that became very ill. Mom and Dad were quite upset thinking this bull would die. When Mom mentioned to a friend the plight of this bull, she told my mom to pray for the bull. When Mom questioned the appropriateness of a prayer for a bull, her friend quoted Alma. Wasn't this bull a part of our field and flocks? So-humbled we prayed, and the bull lived.
We need to pray in regard to our friends that they may increase. "Increase" is an interesting word. Webster's Dictionary defines increase as "to make or become greater, as in number, size or quality." Sometimes we need more (the number of) friends; sometimes we need better (quality) friends.
For the Strength of Youth states, "Choose your friends carefully. They will greatly influence how you think and act, and even help determine the person you will become. Choose friends who share your values so you can strengthen and encourage each other in living high standards. A true friend will encourage you to be your best self.
To have good friends, be a good friend yourself. Show interest in others and let them know you care about them. Treat everyone with kindness and respect. Go out of your way to be a friend to those who are shy or do not feel included." (p.12)
After a few weeks at college, I realized that no one there knew that I was the nerd from my local high school. I decided that I could reinvent myself and become the person I wanted to be. I wanted to be friendly, outgoing and confident instead of shy, introverted and afraid of my own shadow but that meant I had to say hello to people, start conversations with people I did not know and participate in school and ward functions. It was hard but became easier the more I did it.
Elder David A. Bednar reminds us, "Meaningful prayer requires both holy communion and consecrated work...We press forward and persevere in the consecrated work of prayer, after we say "amen", by acting upon the things we have expressed to Heavenly Father."
Consecrated work in fields and flocks may be difficult. A prospering field of school may require hours of study and labor and increasing friend flocks may demand a departure from friends who do not lift and encourage. Neither is easy and both involve sacrifice.
"Be willing to work diligently and make sacrifices to obtain learning." (For the Strength of Youth, p. 9) One of my life's greatest joys is my college education. I prospered in my fields and increased my flocks there, and that prosperity and increase has continued to "help me be an influence for good in the world, and...open the doors of opportunity" to me and my family. (p. 9)
I had planned and saved for years and it wasn't that I didn't want to go, I was simply scared of being away from my family and scared of all the big unknowns: Will I be able to find my way around campus? Will I be able to pass my courses? Who are my roommates and will they like me? Will I have any friends?
These are questions that students ask whether they are entering kindergarten or college. In time, students will know the campus, will know what they must do to pass the courses and will make friends, easily or painfully.
How can we help our children start the school year well, regardless of how old they are or the number of years they have attended school?
Amulek taught, "Cry unto his holy name, that he would have mercy upon you...Cry unto him when ye are in your fields, yea, over all your flocks...Cry unto him over the crops of your fields, that ye may prosper in them...Cry over the flocks of your fields, that they may increase." (Alma 34:17, 20, 23, 24)
All things are spiritual to the Lord (D&C 29:34) and He cares about our children's school work and friendships. In fact, many of the struggles our children face may have been designed to bring about the Lord's purposes.
We (both parents and children) need to cry unto Him about school and coursework that our children may prosper in them.
Once my father purchased a very expensive bull that became very ill. Mom and Dad were quite upset thinking this bull would die. When Mom mentioned to a friend the plight of this bull, she told my mom to pray for the bull. When Mom questioned the appropriateness of a prayer for a bull, her friend quoted Alma. Wasn't this bull a part of our field and flocks? So-humbled we prayed, and the bull lived.
We need to pray in regard to our friends that they may increase. "Increase" is an interesting word. Webster's Dictionary defines increase as "to make or become greater, as in number, size or quality." Sometimes we need more (the number of) friends; sometimes we need better (quality) friends.
For the Strength of Youth states, "Choose your friends carefully. They will greatly influence how you think and act, and even help determine the person you will become. Choose friends who share your values so you can strengthen and encourage each other in living high standards. A true friend will encourage you to be your best self.
To have good friends, be a good friend yourself. Show interest in others and let them know you care about them. Treat everyone with kindness and respect. Go out of your way to be a friend to those who are shy or do not feel included." (p.12)
After a few weeks at college, I realized that no one there knew that I was the nerd from my local high school. I decided that I could reinvent myself and become the person I wanted to be. I wanted to be friendly, outgoing and confident instead of shy, introverted and afraid of my own shadow but that meant I had to say hello to people, start conversations with people I did not know and participate in school and ward functions. It was hard but became easier the more I did it.
Elder David A. Bednar reminds us, "Meaningful prayer requires both holy communion and consecrated work...We press forward and persevere in the consecrated work of prayer, after we say "amen", by acting upon the things we have expressed to Heavenly Father."
Consecrated work in fields and flocks may be difficult. A prospering field of school may require hours of study and labor and increasing friend flocks may demand a departure from friends who do not lift and encourage. Neither is easy and both involve sacrifice.
"Be willing to work diligently and make sacrifices to obtain learning." (For the Strength of Youth, p. 9) One of my life's greatest joys is my college education. I prospered in my fields and increased my flocks there, and that prosperity and increase has continued to "help me be an influence for good in the world, and...open the doors of opportunity" to me and my family. (p. 9)
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