Scholarships Rock!

I just checked my student e-mail account tonight and, low and behold, I found out that I am receiving a scholarship for fall and spring!! Yay, me! It will cover six hours of tuition which only equates to about $750, but $750 will buy a lot of gasoline or groceries, my friends (well, not a lot but it beats nothing!).

Actually, after two seconds of silent celebration I busted out the calculator. As I've already mentioned, I plan on going to summer school so I can graduate in December. Since my summer school classes start next week (and it's not too late to withdraw for a full refund at this point), I decided I'd better do some quick calculations. The calculator still says it is a better financial move for me to graduate at mid-term, so the plans roll on....

Applying for scholarships has been hard for me since I went back to school as an adult. I generally feel like a) they are intended for teenagers or b) I don't stand a chance or c) I just can't write a bunch of bull glorifying myself like I was able to as a high school senior.

Earlier this spring, I picked up an application for my department's scholarship because one of my professors kept harping on it. I thought, "What the heck...it's worth a shot." But after I got past all the formalities (name, address, blah...blah...blah...), they started in with questions like "Why are you valuable to our department?" Well....I'm not. I guess I could be considered valuable because I make good grades, give good reviews for my professors and pay my tuition bill, but other than that... I ended up wadding it up and throwing it away. I just couldn't make myself write some phony baloney, even if it was for free money.

Later, my professor mentioned how they have, in years past, had money laying around because there weren't enough applicants and how, many times, all the applicants end up getting a scholarship. A girl in my class confirmed it by telling me she had gotten $500 per semester. Hello??? This is information I would have liked to have known before I threw my application away! When I asked the girl how she was valuable to the department, she said she made up something about how she always sings the praises of the department to other people. Niiiice. Why couldn't I have thought of that?

Lesson learned: it never hurts to apply for scholarships. If it does make you sick at your stomach to write sugar-coated nuggets of praise about yourself, just keep a trash can or toilet nearby as you write. It's free money!! F-R-E-E M-O-N-E-Y!!