Carving Out Time When You Are Busy
In our workshop today, we will explore several techniques to make time for scholarship searching and applying when you seem to have no time.
- Make an Appointment with Yourself
Pencil in actual time in your schedule beforehand (15 minutes, 30 minutes, 45 minutes, 1 hour) to look for scholarships or apply for scholarships.
Keep that appointment with yourself to seek money for college for yourself and limit your dependence on debt to pay for school.
- Make an Appointment in the TSU Writing Center
Make a 30-minue or an hour appointment in the TSU Writing Center to go over essays you wrote for scholarships. Several students have done this over the years, and by making time, they assure themselves they will go forward and finish scholarship applications.
Any writing instructor/tutor or peer tutor specialized in writing can assist you with going over your essays and making them stronger or assisting you in making your scholarship application stand out.
Also, you can make a 30-minute or an hour appointment with Mr. Turner to have one-on-one Scholarship Tigers coaching session, where we look for scholarships, internships, and other opportunities for you and your major.
- Designate Timewasters and Track Them; Decide to Change if You Want To
A college education has been shown to account for college graduates making a million dollars more over their earning lifetime than high school graduates.
Look then at any activity that takes you away from that college education (watching TV, being on your cell phone, spending too much time on Facebook) with this question, “Is this activity worth me losing a million dollars?”
The activities themselves are not the problem; it is the amount of time each of us gives to those activities.
If you can track a timewaster (notice how much time you spend on an activity—record actual time), then at the end of the day, you can count up how many minutes you spend on the activity.
If you don’t do this perfectly, that is ok. Just do what you can. You get better as you go along.
Then, the next day, decide if you want to spend less time, more time, or no time on that activity.
Anything you track can be changed: spending, saving, time spent learning about new activities you are interested in, time spent practicing an instrument, time spent on homework, anything.
And you have the power to track and to make choices.
And therein lies your power to change your life at any time if you wish.
- Prioritize Scholarships and Your Time
Realize you may find more scholarships than you have time to apply.
Consider dollar amount, deadlines, time you think you can devote to scholarships.
It is best to make choices and start applying. If you notice yourself spending more than 20 minutes deciding where to begin, just jump in and begin.
Also, keep all material and essays you write for scholarships and internships.
You may find that a comprehensive scholarship takes you 10-14 hours to apply, but then you now have material you can repurpose for later scholarships.
Many students have told me that while the first scholarship or internship took them several hours to apply, the next one only took 3-4 hours less because they had already done the legwork.
Also, some scholarships require less time to apply. Strongly consider putting those into the mix, because you have more chance than you know.
- Make Friends Who Are Doing Just a Little Better Than You
It has been shown that we actually are not single entities, but work within systems of those people we choose to hang around.
Make friends who are doing just a little better than you, so that you inspire each other to go forward and reach for higher goals.
Create a group of friends who apply for scholarships and internships. Make a game of how many scholarships and internships you apply to.
See what happens. Life is an experiment.
More Scholarships
In the workshop, we will pay attention to several scholarship with upcoming deadlines, including the TSU Foundation Scholarships with the Sunday, March 31, 2019, deadline, and discuss how to best use your time to apply and get all the material together.
Go back over previous blog entries. You will find scholarships that you can apply for.
Also, here are some scholarships with April and May deadlines.
https://www.aspirehigherscholarships.com/
$10,000 Aspire Higher Ortho Dermatologics Scholarship, D: April 26, 2019
Selected criteria:
“Categories
3 Undergraduate Scholar Awards—for students pursuing undergraduate degrees
3 Graduate Scholar Awards—for students pursuing graduate degrees
3 Today’s Woman Scholar Awards—for students who are mothers pursuing undergraduate or graduate degrees
Determine the scholarship category that fits your academic status. You may only apply within one category. Students pursuing technical/vocational degrees or certificates may be eligible. See Rules & Regulations.
You may be eligible if you:
- Are a United States citizen living in the United States
- At the time of application, have applied to, have been accepted to, or are currently attending an accredited, nonprofit, two- or four-year college, university, or advanced (post-high school) vocational or technical school for academic year 2019-2020
- Have been diagnosed with and treated for a dermatologic condition
- Have been treated by a dermatologist, physician assistant, or nurse practitioner working in a dermatology practice
- Used a prescription medicine to treat your dermatologic condition*
*Applicants need not have used an Ortho Dermatologics prescription medicine. Use of an Ortho Dermatologics product will not increase an applicant’s chance of being awarded a scholarship.”
https://www.togetherwerise.org/family-fellowship/
up to $90,000 Family Fellowship Scholarships, D: May 1, 2019
Selected info from website:
“Through the generous introduction by Hope D. Smith with her husband Robert F. Smith, the president and founding board of director of the Fund ll Foundation, Together We Rise has partnered with the Fund ll Foundation to support youth in foster care with financial, educational, and wrap around support.
Our unwavering commitment is to provide higher education scholarships to youth in foster care. Each student chosen receives up to $90,000 with the goal of not only providing financial support, but continued guidance during & after their tenure.
Together We Rise is seeking 10 aging out foster youth between the ages of 17-23 years old to join our Family Fellowship Program.
- All of the following requirements must apply to the applicant and be checked for verification purposes:
- Have graduated from high school or currently be a high school senior with a cumulative GPA of 2.5 or higher.
- Have been in foster care while living in the United States.
- Have been in public or private foster care for the 12 consecutive months leading up to and including their 18th birthday; OR have been adopted or placed into legal guardianship from foster care after their 13th birthday; OR they have been orphaned for at least one year at the time of their 18th birthday.
- Have been accepted into or expect to be accepted into an accredited, Pell-eligible college or other post-secondary school (ex: trade school, cosmetology school, etc.).
- S. Citizenship.
- I am 24 years of age or younger before June 1, 2019.”
Lists of Scholarships
I found the above scholarships in the following lists. You might find even more.
Scholarships with May 2019 deadlines
https://www.valuecolleges.com/scholarships/no-gpa/
Top 50 Easy Scholarships—No GPA required
For Future Consideration
https://www.gilmanscholarship.org/
Benjamin A. Gilman International Scholarship, check late 2019-early 2020
Selected criteria from webpage:
“The U.S. Department of State’s Benjamin A. Gilman International Scholarship is a grant program that enables students of limited financial means to study or intern abroad, thereby gaining skills critical to our national security and economic prosperity. The Institute of International Education has administered the program since its inception in 2001.
The Gilman Scholarship Program broadens the student population that studies and interns abroad by supporting undergraduates who might not otherwise participate due to financial constraints.
The program aims to encourage students to study and intern in a diverse array of countries or areas and world regions. The program also encourages students to study languages, especially critical need languages (those deemed important to national security).
Veterans of military service are encouraged to apply, and preference is given to veterans when other factors are equivalent. By supporting undergraduate students who have high financial need, the program has been successful in supporting students who have been historically underrepresented in education abroad, including but not limited to first-generation college students, students in STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) fields, ethnic minority students, students with disabilities, students attending HBCUs (Historically Black Colleges and Universities) or other minority-serving institutions, students attending community colleges, and students coming from U.S. states with less study abroad participation.”
SKIP THE ADS! (Some of the ads are legitimate, but sadly I can’t vouch for them all. Avoid the single mom or single dad scholarships–I and a few other students have received calls, and some of the operators are not scrupulous, trying to pressure students in pursuing degrees at for-profit colleges and to take on heavy student loans.)