Attention Scholarship Wannabes

By Quenjule Slaven. 15 August 2017, 12:00AM

Planning to attend University in the States?  Want some help with college tuition?  You just might qualify for one of these crazy scholarship ideas.  Starting in 1994, it was announced that:

•  The Fredrick and Mary F Beckley Fund for needy left-handed Freshman offers up to $1000.00 for left-handers who want to go to Juanita College in Pennsylvania.  

•  The National Make It yourself with Wool scholarship offers $100-$1,000 to knitters.

•  The Dolphin Scholarship Foundation offers $1,750 to the children of WWII submarine veterans.

•  The John Gatling Scholarship Program offers $60,000 to anyone with the last name Gatlin or Galing who wants to go to the University of North Carolina. (I’m up for a name change, as a last resort)

•  Tall Clubs International offers two scholarships of $1,000 each for females 5’10 or taller, and males 6’2 or taller.

•  Planning on going to clown college...or at least a family-friendly entertainment educational program that runs for a minimum of 10 hours? You can apply for this scholarship from the Clowns of America, International. (Calling all future clowns looking for careers in Bruno’s circus)

•  American Board of Funeral Service Education National Scholarship Program: $2,500. You know, working with dead people really isn’t that bad. It’s quiet, it’s consistent, and practically no other job is as stable. If you’ve completed at least one semester or quarter, in an accredited funeral service or mortuary science program, you’re eligible for this scholarship.  Interesting! 

• Calling all coffee lovers!  A short 500 words or less about the role of education in your life through the lens of why you love coffee, can get you $500. Invigorating!

• The Scholarship for Redheads! Natural redheads, that is, which you’ll need to prove with a picture from your childhood and win $5,000. You’ll also need to “create something that represents what it means to be Redhead.”  (What about what it means to be a brunette?)

• “If you could say one thing to the entire world at once, what would it be and why?” Provided you can say it in 250 words or less, you could snag a $1,500 scholarship.  

• $10,000 scholarship!! If you think animals are friends, not food, and you advocate for them in your high school or community, you may be eligible for this award! (That’s it, I’m going vegetarian, for real this time!) 

• $2,000. Quick! The streets are full of the undead (bummer). What’s your plan? If you can convince the scholarship judges you’re ready to survive a zombie fallout, you could win enough money to stock your underground shelter for at least a few months, lol!

Wacky scholarship ideas? Yes they do exist and they are up for grabs, as crazy as they may sound.  The easiest way to get a scholarship is to search the internet. 

I have started taking advantage of applying for these scholarships.  What do you have to lose except for time?  College is not cheap and I feel obligated to take responsibility.  I love it when people say to me, “Oh Quen you’re so independent!” (Ia ua lelei Miss Independent) This is a fact that most of us teens are hit with when deciding where and when to apply for University. 

Getting a scholarship is every parent’s dream.  Scholarships are opportunities for students to fulfil their dreams when parents are unable to afford school tuition.  

Scholarship search services can also help you find what you need.  Websites like fastweb.com and zinch.com will email you when a new scholarship opportunity comes up. 

The internet age has given students access to information about scholarships that didn’t exist when our parents were in school. Keep in mind while searching for scholarships, it is important to be mindful of internet scams.  If it is too good to be true, it probably is.

Another way to find scholarships is through the Universities that you apply to.  Earlier this year, I applied to Ohio University in Ohio State.  I sent them my CV and portfolio. They replied after a month, with a full scholarship offer, PROVIDED I do very well on my SAT exam (Right- it’s only like the hardest test ever!!).  

Despite that fact that University application is done during our last year in secondary school, scholarships are not just for seniors anymore.  I applied to several, dream schools in the United States and I got no reply. 

Out of the twenty schools I applied (including my dream school Harvard), Ohio was the only school interested in muah.  This is a good way to get a head start on the college process even if you are not a senior yet. Paying for Uni is not impossible.

  Looking for international scholarships applies to any country - NZ, Australia, China, Japan, South America, Canada or the United States.  The key is to find these opportunities by looking for them early on the internet, but most importantly, APPLY.  

By Quenjule Slaven. 15 August 2017, 12:00AM
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