WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:04.000 Today we're going to talk about how to effectively search for and apply for scholarships. 00:00:04.000 --> 00:00:08.000 Lots of information here that you can use to look for outside, private donor 00:00:08.000 --> 00:00:12.000 scholarships, and also good information for applying for WOU scholarships. 00:00:12.000 --> 00:00:16.000 At the end of this section will be a bit of a workshopping 00:00:16.000 --> 00:00:20.000 of our actual essay question that we're asking in the general 00:00:20.000 --> 00:00:24.000 scholarship. Let me just test your knowledge a little bit. How many people 00:00:24.000 --> 00:00:28.000 know when the general scholarship deadline is? 00:00:28.000 --> 00:00:32.000 March first? Good. So I'm Kara Westervelt Parker and 00:00:32.000 --> 00:00:36.000 I'm the Assistant Director of Financial Aid here at Western and 00:00:36.000 --> 00:00:40.000 I've been in the financial aid and scholarships world for nine years now, I think. 00:00:40.000 --> 00:00:44.000 And I love it. It's really fun. It's really 00:00:44.000 --> 00:00:48.000 an exciting thing to help students navigate through. So financial aid is kind of the 00:00:48.000 --> 00:00:52.000 stuffy side of things, and scholarships is a little more exciting. 00:00:52.000 --> 00:00:56.000 I'm excited to talk about that with you today. Why do we apply for scholarships? 00:00:56.000 --> 00:00:60.000 Besides the obvious fact that you get free money to pay for school. 00:01:00.000 --> 00:01:04.000 Well, there are a few good benefits that come with applying for scholarships other 00:01:04.000 --> 00:01:08.000 than that free money. One of them being that you can offset your loan 00:01:08.000 --> 00:01:12.000 borrowing. I'm sure that a portion of you in this room have 00:01:12.000 --> 00:01:16.000 borrowed student loans. Yes? I'm seeing some heads nod. 00:01:16.000 --> 00:01:20.000 Yep. That's just sort of a reality of life today, most students 00:01:20.000 --> 00:01:24.000 can't get through school without borrowing some measure of loan. 00:01:24.000 --> 00:01:26.000 But if you get a few scholarships and offset that loan borrowing, 00:01:26.000 --> 00:01:28.000 you really save yourself some money. 00:01:28.000 --> 00:01:32.000 I'll actually do the math for you in a couple of slides here, to show you exactly 00:01:32.000 --> 00:01:36.000 what you would be saving if you just won a thousand dollar scholarship 00:01:36.000 --> 00:01:40.000 per year for all four of your years. If you receive a scholarship 00:01:40.000 --> 00:01:44.000 it's something that you can put on your resume. I don't know if you knew that 00:01:44.000 --> 00:01:48.000 or not, but it's something you can brag about in the future to future employers, 00:01:48.000 --> 00:01:52.000 for grad school applications, for other scholarship 00:01:52.000 --> 00:01:56.000 applications. It's an achievement. It's something that you have earned 00:01:56.000 --> 00:01:60.000 and can brag about. And one of the 00:02:00.000 --> 00:02:04.000 other hidden benefits of applying for scholarships it that you really get to hone 00:02:04.000 --> 00:02:08.000 a life skill that will come in handy later when you're in the 'real world' 00:02:08.000 --> 00:02:12.000 with us adults and you're applying for jobs. So it's a very 00:02:12.000 --> 00:02:16.000 similar process. Just to kind of break down what you're savings 00:02:16.000 --> 00:02:20.000 would be if you were to win some scholarships and reduce your loan borrowing... 00:02:20.000 --> 00:02:24.000 let's say that you borrow the maximum amount of loans 00:02:24.000 --> 00:02:28.000 that you can borrow as an undergraduate student, and you get out in four years. 00:02:28.000 --> 00:02:32.000 And this is assuming that you're a dependent student; that you're still reporting your parents on the FAFSA. 00:02:32.000 --> 00:02:36.000 Your total payoff of all that 00:02:36.000 --> 00:02:40.000 loan money is gonna be thirty two thousand, four hundred and ninety six dollars. 00:02:40.000 --> 00:02:44.000 And the interest that you will pay on that is fifty four hundred bucks. 00:02:44.000 --> 00:02:48.000 So interest rates are kind of low right now, but again if you take ten 00:02:48.000 --> 00:02:52.000 years to pay off twenty seven thousand dollars, you're gonna be paying a bit of interest. 00:02:52.000 --> 00:02:56.000 But, if you earn a thousand dollar scholarship per year 00:02:56.000 --> 00:02:60.000 over your four years, you reduce your loan borrowing by 00:03:00.000 --> 00:03:04.000 four thousand dollars; you're only borrowing twenty three thousand dollars 00:03:04.000 --> 00:03:08.000 instead of that twenty seven thousand dollars. If you do a standard repayment plan, 00:03:08.000 --> 00:03:12.000 your payoff ends up being twenty seven thousand dollars, instead of that 00:03:12.000 --> 00:03:16.000 thirty two. So you just saved yourself forty eight hundred dollars. 00:03:16.000 --> 00:03:20.000 Pretty darn cool. So that's definitely one of the benefits of applying for scholarships. 00:03:20.000 --> 00:03:24.000 Speaking to that last point on the first slide of the 00:03:24.000 --> 00:03:28.000 life skill benefit, it really is good at helping you... 00:03:28.000 --> 00:03:32.000 it's basically a mirror for a job application. It's really similar to 00:03:32.000 --> 00:03:36.000 what you encounter in the workplace. So you have to meet that application deadline, 00:03:36.000 --> 00:03:40.000 you have to demonstrate that you can follow instructions. Many 00:03:40.000 --> 00:03:44.000 scholarships will say 'we want a 350 word essay, 00:03:44.000 --> 00:03:48.000 a letter of recommendation, and your official transcript. 00:03:48.000 --> 00:03:52.000 You know, if you submit a great essay and you got that letter of recommendation but you 00:03:52.000 --> 00:03:56.000 sent an unofficial transcript, the donor is gonna say 'jeez 00:03:56.000 --> 00:03:60.000 we'd really love to award you this scholarship, but unfortunately you didn't follow our 00:04:00.000 --> 00:04:04.000 directions. So it's really important to be able to follow those 00:04:04.000 --> 00:04:08.000 directions and the scholarship process kind of enforces that for you. 00:04:08.000 --> 00:04:12.000 I'm sure you are all very good at following instructions already, but 00:04:12.000 --> 00:04:16.000 that scholarship process really does help solidify the importance of that. 00:04:16.000 --> 00:04:20.000 The process really helps you identify your own personal strengths 00:04:20.000 --> 00:04:24.000 or your weaknesses - but hopefully your strengths - and helps you express those to 00:04:24.000 --> 00:04:28.000 other people. That's a tough one. That's one that I 00:04:28.000 --> 00:04:32.000 struggle with even as a 38 year old adult. I'm not 38 00:04:32.000 --> 00:04:36.000 yet. I'll be 38 in a couple weeks, but I'm getting close. 00:04:36.000 --> 00:04:40.000 It's hard. It's hard to say about yourself, 'I'm really good at 00:04:40.000 --> 00:04:44.000 this, and I can tell people about that in a way that 00:04:44.000 --> 00:04:48.000 just is matter-of-fact, and that they believe and that they don't 00:04:48.000 --> 00:04:52.000 consider to be 00:04:52.000 --> 00:04:56.000 bragg-y or disingenuous. So this is 00:04:56.000 --> 00:04:60.000 an exercise that will help you practice that skill. 00:05:00.000 --> 00:05:04.000 Making the paper cut. And what I mean by 'making the paper cut' is that you 00:05:04.000 --> 00:05:08.000 are able to fully represent yourself on a piece of paper 00:05:08.000 --> 00:05:12.000 in a convincing enough manner to make someone 00:05:12.000 --> 00:05:16.000 want to further you along in the process. So for 00:05:16.000 --> 00:05:20.000 instance, for a job application, you have to submit a resume and a 00:05:20.000 --> 00:05:24.000 cover letter, and then the next step in that process, usually, is a face-to-face 00:05:24.000 --> 00:05:28.000 interview. So that face-to-face interview is the moment where you 00:05:28.000 --> 00:05:32.000 can show your skills and show how amazing you are, and really 00:05:32.000 --> 00:05:36.000 sell yourself and display your sparkling personality. But 00:05:36.000 --> 00:05:40.000 you won't get to see that sparkling personality until you 00:05:40.000 --> 00:05:44.000 have been impressive enough on paper for them to move you forward in that process. 00:05:44.000 --> 00:05:48.000 Being able to do that is a huge thing. 00:05:48.000 --> 00:05:52.000 Competing against other qualified candidates. So in the 00:05:52.000 --> 00:05:56.000 classroom setting, if you're writing a paper for an English class or 00:05:56.000 --> 00:05:60.000 something, you and your peers in that class might 00:06:00.000 --> 00:06:04.000 all be equally competent. You might be amazing writers, you may have 00:06:04.000 --> 00:06:08.000 wonderful synthesis of literature. You may all be able to achieve at a very high level 00:06:08.000 --> 00:06:12.000 and the teacher can give out A's to everyone. 00:06:12.000 --> 00:06:16.000 Unfortunately, in the scholarship world and in the job world, 00:06:16.000 --> 00:06:20.000 it's kind of a zero-sum game. 00:06:20.000 --> 00:06:23.000 So if one person wins a scholarship, that necessarily means that there are people who don't win that 00:06:23.000 --> 00:06:28.000 scholarship. So it's a good skill to compete 00:06:28.000 --> 00:06:32.000 against other people and do your best to shine. 00:06:32.000 --> 00:06:36.000 And then that kind of brings us to our last point of 'persevering through disappointment'. 00:06:36.000 --> 00:06:40.000 You will not get every scholarship that you apply for. You will not 00:06:40.000 --> 00:06:44.000 get every job that you apply for, but it is important to be able 00:06:44.000 --> 00:06:48.000 to pick yourself up and move on, and move forward, and 00:06:48.000 --> 00:06:52.000 just sort of getting used to that feeling of disappointment and moving on 00:06:52.000 --> 00:06:56.000 will be helpful for you, so you won't be personally crushed 00:06:56.000 --> 00:06:60.000 and unable to move forward in your adult life. Where do I find scholarships? 00:07:00.000 --> 00:07:04.000 This is probably the most common question that we get. People come in and say 'okay, 00:07:04.000 --> 00:07:08.000 I'm an outstanding student, I'm ready to do the hard work, I just don't 00:07:08.000 --> 00:07:12.000 know where to look. How do I get started? Where do I find them?' 00:07:12.000 --> 00:07:16.000 Back in my day, twenty years ago was when I graduated 00:07:16.000 --> 00:07:20.000 from high school, the internet was just a baby. 00:07:20.000 --> 00:07:24.000 People went online not for the things they 00:07:24.000 --> 00:07:28.000 go there for today. It wasn't as 00:07:28.000 --> 00:07:32.000 widely used as it is now, and the way that I looked for scholarships 00:07:32.000 --> 00:07:36.000 was I went to the reference section of my high school library, 00:07:36.000 --> 00:07:40.000 and I sat down with this big, fat book, 00:07:40.000 --> 00:07:44.000 and my little stenographer's notebook, cracked open this big 00:07:44.000 --> 00:07:48.000 book and I looked through and I read, scholarship by scholarship, 'oh 00:07:48.000 --> 00:07:52.000 a scholarship for people majoring in biology. That sounds 00:07:52.000 --> 00:07:56.000 good. Hmm, oh, you have to attend the University of Missouri to get this one. 00:07:56.000 --> 00:07:60.000 Alright, that's not for me. Next one. Oh, this looks like a really good 00:08:00.000 --> 00:08:04.000 scholarship. Requires an essay, I can do that! Oh, you have to have a three point 00:08:04.000 --> 00:08:08.000 eight five GPA. I only have a 3.7. It was 00:08:08.000 --> 00:08:12.000 very tedious, very time consuming. Very few of the scholarships 00:08:12.000 --> 00:08:16.000 were really specifically for me. And so 00:08:16.000 --> 00:08:20.000 it was just kind of an overwhelming process. Now we have our friend Google 00:08:20.000 --> 00:08:24.000 who is a friend to us in all things, including scholarship 00:08:24.000 --> 00:08:28.000 hunting. Nowadays, you can just type in 'scholarship 00:08:28.000 --> 00:08:32.000 for biology majors', get fourteen million hits in 00:08:32.000 --> 00:08:36.000 point-two seconds, which is great. 00:08:36.000 --> 00:08:40.000 That's the good news, but that's also the bad news about 00:08:40.000 --> 00:08:44.000 searching on the internet is there's lots of information, but there's also 00:08:44.000 --> 00:08:48.000 LOTS of information. How can you possibly comb through those fourteen 00:08:48.000 --> 00:08:52.000 million hits in an efficient manner to find the 00:08:52.000 --> 00:08:56.000 opportunities that are right for you? So as you go into this 00:08:56.000 --> 00:08:60.000 crazy landscape of millions of scholarships out there, 00:09:00.000 --> 00:09:04.000 what can you be prepared for? How can you prepare yourself to go into this crazy 00:09:04.000 --> 00:09:08.000 landscape? One thing: just be aware. There will be ads, ads, 00:09:08.000 --> 00:09:12.000 everywhere, and that includes spam into your email box. 00:09:12.000 --> 00:09:16.000 Maybe some of you have already experienced this. But, really, if 00:09:16.000 --> 00:09:20.000 you think about it, the people who are providing this information on the internet, 00:09:20.000 --> 00:09:24.000 they want it to be free for you as the searcher, so you are someone 00:09:24.000 --> 00:09:28.000 that they...they want you to find this information. They're not going to carge 00:09:28.000 --> 00:09:32.000 you money. They also want it to be a free service for the donors of the scholarship, 00:09:32.000 --> 00:09:36.000 they don't want to charge them money, but they would like to make some money somehow. 00:09:36.000 --> 00:09:40.000 And so, they do ads. And they sell your email address. 00:09:40.000 --> 00:09:44.000 Luckily, most people of this current generation 00:09:44.000 --> 00:09:48.000 have developed what I call 'ad blindness', so when you're on the 00:09:48.000 --> 00:09:52.000 internet, and you see things in side columns and you can tell 00:09:52.000 --> 00:09:56.000 that they're ads. Ads just have a certain feel to them on a webpage, 00:09:56.000 --> 00:09:60.000 and you can have ad blindness. You can really scan the information and find the good stuff. 00:10:00.000 --> 00:10:04.000 Not everyone had ad blindness, though. For instance, 00:10:04.000 --> 00:10:08.000 my mother. I love her to death. She 00:10:08.000 --> 00:10:12.000 is sixty-five years old, and she's always saying 'send me pictures of your daughter, 00:10:12.000 --> 00:10:16.000 send me pictures, send me pictures!' You know, through the mail. And I'm like, 00:10:24.000 --> 00:10:28.000 you just have to ignore them, you just have to be blind to them' but 00:10:28.000 --> 00:10:32.000 not everyone has ad blindness, especially if you didn't grow up with the internet, but 00:10:32.000 --> 00:10:36.000 maybe many of you here did, and are digital 00:10:36.000 --> 00:10:40.000 natives and so it's familiar to you to have ad blindness. But not 00:10:40.000 --> 00:10:44.000 every person does, so just be prepared for that. You will have to 00:10:44.000 --> 00:10:48.000 give information to get information. So, again, you're gonna give your email address 00:10:48.000 --> 00:10:52.000 to these people, who will send you spam, but that also gives you access to 00:10:52.000 --> 00:10:56.000 maybe the next layer of information that you're looking for. 00:10:56.000 --> 00:10:60.000 Sorting through tones of information that doesn't fit you - luckily there are a lot of 00:11:00.000 --> 00:11:04.000 matching services that will take your data, and only match 00:11:04.000 --> 00:11:08.000 you up with opportunities that do apply to you, so that's a good way to cut that 00:11:08.000 --> 00:11:12.000 out, but if you're just googling 'scholarships for biology majors', 00:11:12.000 --> 00:11:16.000 there's gonna be a lot that's like 'you have to attend the 00:11:16.000 --> 00:11:20.000 University of Missouri. Doesn't apply. Be ware of people trying to 00:11:20.000 --> 00:11:24.000 scam you on the internet. They're going to try to get you to pay 00:11:24.000 --> 00:11:28.000 money for their service, or they will try to get your personal information from you. 00:11:28.000 --> 00:11:32.000 Never pay for any kind of scholarship 00:11:32.000 --> 00:11:36.000 searching service. There's plenty out there that are free. Anyone who 00:11:36.000 --> 00:11:40.000 is charging you money to do it, and is trying to 'guarantee' 00:11:40.000 --> 00:11:44.000 you a scholarship, they really can't guarantee you a scholarship. They're not 00:11:44.000 --> 00:11:48.000 the donors of the scholarship. They're not gonna take your fifty bucks and 00:11:48.000 --> 00:11:52.000 turn it into a thousand dollars magically. 00:11:52.000 --> 00:11:56.000 Be wary of that. And never give out your social security number 00:11:56.000 --> 00:11:60.000 in the process of applying for a scholarship. That's not information that 00:12:00.000 --> 00:12:04.000 a scholarship donor would need at the outset. Now, if you win a scholarship, 00:12:04.000 --> 00:12:08.000 and they pay the money to your school, they may need your social 00:12:08.000 --> 00:12:12.000 security number, like if they're a charitable organization and they 00:12:12.000 --> 00:12:16.000 have certain tax benefits that they get from their tax-exempt status, 00:12:16.000 --> 00:12:20.000 they may have to prove to the IRS that you are a 00:12:20.000 --> 00:12:24.000 recipient of this scholarship, and that they didn't just take the money and go blow 00:12:24.000 --> 00:12:28.000 it in Vegas or something. So, at that point they may need your 00:12:28.000 --> 00:12:32.000 social security number. But that's after you've won the money, so it's pretty legit 00:12:32.000 --> 00:12:36.000 at that point. Also, scholarships are income. They're considered income for 00:12:36.000 --> 00:12:40.000 students. And if you receive more in scholarship than 00:12:40.000 --> 00:12:44.000 what your tuition in fees are, you have to report that on your taxes as income. 00:12:44.000 --> 00:12:48.000 Little-known fact. You just have to spend time finding the right 00:12:48.000 --> 00:12:52.000 opportunity for you. That's just a reality of 00:12:52.000 --> 00:12:56.000 scholarships. But if you think about it, like if you spend 00:12:56.000 --> 00:12:60.000 roughly ten hours searching for a scholarship, writing an essay, 00:13:00.000 --> 00:13:04.000 requesting a letter of recommendation, getting someone to edit that essay 00:13:04.000 --> 00:13:08.000 for you, doing whatever you need to do to pull your application 00:13:08.000 --> 00:13:12.000 together - if you spend ten hours doing that, and you win a thousand dollar 00:13:12.000 --> 00:13:16.000 scholarship, then you just got paid 00:13:16.000 --> 00:13:20.000 a hundred bucks an hour to do that work. So it is time-consuming but it 00:13:20.000 --> 00:13:24.000 certainly can be rewarding. So some more tips and tricks 00:13:24.000 --> 00:13:28.000 just to kind of make your scholarship hunting journey 00:13:28.000 --> 00:13:32.000 not drive you insane. Make use of scholarship websites that 00:13:32.000 --> 00:13:36.000 offer a 'matching service'. So I liken this 00:13:36.000 --> 00:13:40.000 to online dating, where you go and you create your profile, 00:13:40.000 --> 00:13:44.000 and you say 'I'm Kara and I'm 00:13:44.000 --> 00:13:48.000 thirty seven years old, and I have a 3.7 GPA and I'm a 00:13:48.000 --> 00:13:52.000 biology major, I like long walks on the beach. You're gonna get 00:13:52.000 --> 00:13:56.000 matched up with opportunities that sync up with those qualities that you have. 00:13:56.000 --> 00:13:60.000 Then you won't get offers from people who are looking 00:14:00.000 --> 00:14:04.000 for someone with a 4.0 GPA. 00:14:04.000 --> 00:14:08.000 It's a good use of your time to sign up for a matching service. 00:14:08.000 --> 00:14:12.000 But, again, you're giving information to get information 00:14:12.000 --> 00:14:16.000 and there will be spam and ads that come to you because of that service. 00:14:16.000 --> 00:14:20.000 I encourage you, then, to create a separate e-mail address that you would use 00:14:20.000 --> 00:14:24.000 for signing up for these services, because if you 00:14:24.000 --> 00:14:28.000 sign up for these services with your WOU e-mail address, 00:14:28.000 --> 00:14:32.000 and that's the main one that you check for your personal stuff and for 00:14:32.000 --> 00:14:36.000 school, you will be inundated with e-mails from 00:14:40.000 --> 00:14:44.000 at Duvry!' All these places will really try to get your 00:14:44.000 --> 00:14:48.000 attention. They'll send you a bunch of spam. You will get very frustrated. 00:14:48.000 --> 00:14:52.000 Among those e-mails that you will get, you'll get 00:14:52.000 --> 00:14:56.000 legitimate offers of 'hey, a new scholarship opportunity has come up that you 00:14:56.000 --> 00:14:60.000 qualify for. Here it is, here's the deadline, here's how to apply for it. That's the 00:15:00.000 --> 00:15:04.000 valuable information you want, but it's also kind of in with all the other junk. 00:15:04.000 --> 00:15:08.000 If you create a separate e-mail address, you're not getting 00:15:08.000 --> 00:15:12.000 notifications on your phone, time after time, for these 00:15:12.000 --> 00:15:16.000 scholarships, or spam that you don't want. 00:15:16.000 --> 00:15:20.000 If you can just set aside time to check 00:15:20.000 --> 00:15:24.000 that e-mail address when you're kind of in scholarship hunting mode, that eliminates 00:15:24.000 --> 00:15:28.000 your frustration level. Otherwise, you will probably end up unsubscribing 00:15:28.000 --> 00:15:32.000 to that service. That gets rid of the spam but it also gets rid of 00:15:32.000 --> 00:15:36.000 those legitimate 'hey, apply for this scholarship. 00:15:36.000 --> 00:15:40.000 This is interesting. Some companies use scholarships to advertise for 00:15:40.000 --> 00:15:44.000 themselves, and it's kind of like marketing 00:15:44.000 --> 00:15:48.000 for themselves, and it seems a little weird. When this first started happening, it's kind of 00:15:48.000 --> 00:15:52.000 a new trend in scholarships - and when it first started happening I was like 00:15:56.000 --> 00:15:60.000 Office of Blah-blah-blah' is giving a 00:16:00.000 --> 00:16:04.000 thousand dollar scholarship for anyone who can write the best essay for 00:16:04.000 --> 00:16:08.000 how to reduce traffic accident deaths, or something. 00:16:08.000 --> 00:16:12.000 And they're a law office that basically represents 00:16:12.000 --> 00:16:16.000 people who have been in auto accidents, and who are suing either the person 00:16:16.000 --> 00:16:20.000 who hit them or some other entity. What they're doing 00:16:20.000 --> 00:16:24.000 is they are advertising themselves, and they are putting their name out there. 00:16:24.000 --> 00:16:28.000 It's going to be posted on every single scholarship website. 00:16:28.000 --> 00:16:32.000 Even some universities might post that opportunity on their website. 00:16:32.000 --> 00:16:36.000 Their name is going to come up in a search engine 00:16:36.000 --> 00:16:40.000 in conjunction with scholarships, and what they're hoping for, is that 00:16:40.000 --> 00:16:44.000 for any young person who as applied for this scholarship sort of 00:16:44.000 --> 00:16:48.000 has their name recognition embedded in the back of their mind. 00:16:48.000 --> 00:16:52.000 So their hope is that in five years or whatever, when you are 00:16:52.000 --> 00:16:56.000 rear-ended on I-5 on your way to drive up to Portland, 00:16:56.000 --> 00:16:60.000 that you will say, 'aw, I ought to sue that guy that hit me. 00:17:00.000 --> 00:17:04.000 Hmm, the Law Offices of Blah-blah-blah would be a good 00:17:04.000 --> 00:17:08.000 place to go to. I know about them. I applied for a scholarship 00:17:08.000 --> 00:17:12.000 from them back when I was in school. So its cheap marketing for them. A thousand 00:17:12.000 --> 00:17:16.000 bucks is pretty cheap. If they were to go out and buy a billboard, or purchase 00:17:16.000 --> 00:17:20.000 TV or radio spots, it would be in the 00:17:20.000 --> 00:17:24.000 tens of thousands of dollars for them. A thousand bucks is pretty cheap, 00:17:24.000 --> 00:17:28.000 their name is out there. Seems a little weird, I know, but 00:17:28.000 --> 00:17:32.000 they are legit. And it could work in your favor if you apply for those, because 00:17:32.000 --> 00:17:36.000 many students, maybe, would be like 'this doesn't seem legit, I'm not gonna do that. But I'm 00:17:36.000 --> 00:17:40.000 giving you the inside tip so you can use that information. 00:17:40.000 --> 00:17:44.000 Set aside time to do scholarship searching just like you would studying. 00:17:44.000 --> 00:17:48.000 That's really the way that you'll be the most successful. Again, if you get that thousand 00:17:48.000 --> 00:17:52.000 dollar scholarship and you put in ten hours of work, you made a hundred bucks an hour. 00:17:52.000 --> 00:17:56.000 And it really can pay off in the long run. Lots of scholarship 00:17:56.000 --> 00:17:60.000 opportunities require similar materials. So if you're applying 00:18:00.000 --> 00:18:04.000 for many, many scholarships at a time, which I encourage you to do because 00:18:04.000 --> 00:18:08.000 again, you will not get every scholarship you apply for, keep a copy 00:18:08.000 --> 00:18:12.000 of all your essays, keep a copy of your letters of recommendation if you're 00:18:12.000 --> 00:18:16.000 requesting those. Make a master-list of all your activities and awards 00:18:16.000 --> 00:18:20.000 that you've won over the years, so you can kind of have that at the ready 00:18:20.000 --> 00:18:24.000 when you find out about a scholarship opportunity. For those essays, you may 00:18:24.000 --> 00:18:28.000 need to tweak them a little bit - you want to make sure you're answering 00:18:28.000 --> 00:18:32.000 that exact essay question, but a lot of them use the same framework. 00:18:32.000 --> 00:18:36.000 They want to know about what you've done, community-service-wise. They 00:18:36.000 --> 00:18:40.000 want to know about your experience doing leadership things. They're all pretty 00:18:40.000 --> 00:18:44.000 similar. If you struggle to remember all your 00:18:44.000 --> 00:18:48.000 activities that you did in high school or 00:18:48.000 --> 00:18:52.000 maybe you did some things that you don't really remember, ask your 00:18:52.000 --> 00:18:56.000 mom. Your mom is a person who has paid attention 00:18:56.000 --> 00:18:60.000 to everything you've done, and probably has a freakish memory 00:19:00.000 --> 00:19:04.000 about activities or awards that you've done. I know, for me, I have a 00:19:04.000 --> 00:19:08.000 six-year-old daughter, and I remember the day she rode her 00:19:08.000 --> 00:19:12.000 two-wheel bike by herself for the first time. April 17th, 2016. I have 00:19:12.000 --> 00:19:16.000 that in my head, that date's in my head, I don't know why. 00:19:16.000 --> 00:19:20.000 It's totally useless information, but it's just 00:19:20.000 --> 00:19:24.000 I guess the curse of motherhood, is you remember everything your child does. 00:19:24.000 --> 00:19:28.000 She lost her first tooth on July 25th, you know. I mean... 00:19:28.000 --> 00:19:32.000 really pointless information, but it's stored up here, and I bet your mom 00:19:32.000 --> 00:19:36.000 has a similar transcript of what you've done in your life, up to and including 00:19:36.000 --> 00:19:40.000 when you first rode your bike, probably. 00:19:40.000 --> 00:19:44.000 Don't necessarily use that on a scholarship application. You can search with a 00:19:44.000 --> 00:19:48.000 friend or two; that kind of helps break things up. So if you all get together and 00:19:48.000 --> 00:19:52.000 you search the same term, like 'scholarship for community service', you'll get 00:19:52.000 --> 00:19:56.000 all these hits and the first person takes the first link, second person takes the 00:19:56.000 --> 00:19:60.000 second link, third person takes the third link. And if you click on the link and 00:20:00.000 --> 00:20:04.000 say 'oh, no, this one's for Missouri, we don't go there. This one's for 4.0. We don't 00:20:04.000 --> 00:20:08.000 have a 4.0. Click on the third one. 'Oh! This one sounds 00:20:08.000 --> 00:20:12.000 good, looks like we could all apply for this. I'm e-mailing you the link now. 00:20:12.000 --> 00:20:16.000 That's a good way to do it. Be aware of the scholarship hunting season. 00:20:16.000 --> 00:20:20.000 So when scholarship hunting season happens is important. Because if you're 00:20:20.000 --> 00:20:24.000 thinking about how you're going to get money for next year in June or July, you can't. 00:20:24.000 --> 00:20:28.000 So here's just a little visual of when the deadlines occur. 00:20:28.000 --> 00:20:32.000 We're in February right now; we have a lot of deadlines that are happening now. 00:20:32.000 --> 00:20:36.000 March is the big one. WOU's general scholarship application is 00:20:36.000 --> 00:20:40.000 March first. OSAC scholarship - the Office of Student Access and 00:20:40.000 --> 00:20:44.000 Completion - for Oregon residents who are in the house, that's also 00:20:44.000 --> 00:20:48.000 March first. Many deadlines are in February, March, April... 00:20:48.000 --> 00:20:52.000 that's kind of when most of the awards are given out. So just gotta 00:20:52.000 --> 00:20:56.000 be aware. I did mention OSAC, and it's open 00:20:56.000 --> 00:20:60.000 now, and they had an early bird deadline of February 15th, which was 00:21:00.000 --> 00:21:04.000 a couple days ago. The reason why they do the early bird deadlines is because 00:21:04.000 --> 00:21:08.000 inevitably, every year on March first, every high school senior 00:21:08.000 --> 00:21:12.000 across the state of Oregon is like 'oh, I better get on that website, 00:21:12.000 --> 00:21:16.000 I better go do that,' and the servers crash, and 00:21:16.000 --> 00:21:20.000 OSAC has said time and again has said 'we are not responsible if you cannot 00:21:20.000 --> 00:21:24.000 complete your application due to a high volume of internet traffic. 00:21:24.000 --> 00:21:28.000 So they have as many servers as they can afford, and they 00:21:28.000 --> 00:21:32.000 always get overloaded on March first. So please do not complete your 00:21:32.000 --> 00:21:36.000 application on that particular day. If you can do it earlier, 00:21:36.000 --> 00:21:40.000 you will be much happier. Don't forget about community-based scholarships. 00:21:40.000 --> 00:21:44.000 There's a lot of scholarships that are not necessarily search-able 00:21:44.000 --> 00:21:48.000 on Google. It's like the 00:21:48.000 --> 00:21:52.000 Independence Garden Club - the little old ladies 00:21:52.000 --> 00:21:56.000 who live in Independence who love to garden, they get together and they do 00:21:56.000 --> 00:21:60.000 their plant sale every year and they sell their plants and they raise 00:22:00.000 --> 00:22:04.000 five hundred bucks and they give out a scholarship. I actually don't know 00:22:04.000 --> 00:22:08.000 if that's true or not. I'm not sure if there's an Independence Garden Club, but 00:22:08.000 --> 00:22:12.000 you get the idea that these community groups get together, they raise money, 00:22:12.000 --> 00:22:16.000 they offer a scholarship, but they don't know how to create a website. They're 00:22:16.000 --> 00:22:20.000 little old ladies and they still use their same AOL e-mail address that 00:22:20.000 --> 00:22:24.000 they've had since their grandchild set it up for them back in 2001. 00:22:24.000 --> 00:22:28.000 So these won't come up on a Google search, is 00:22:28.000 --> 00:22:32.000 my point. So if you go back to your high school counsellor, 00:22:32.000 --> 00:22:36.000 wherever you attended high school, you can ask them, 'hey, what are some 00:22:36.000 --> 00:22:40.000 scholarships that are offered to people who hail from this area?' Or 00:22:40.000 --> 00:22:44.000 kind of poke around in Monmouth. 00:22:44.000 --> 00:22:48.000 Walk around and if you see little old ladies, say 'hey, do you give out scholarships?' 00:22:48.000 --> 00:22:52.000 No, I don't recommend that. But anyway, they don't come up 00:22:52.000 --> 00:22:56.000 when you Google them necessarily. The nice thing 00:22:56.000 --> 00:22:60.000 about these scholarships, though, is that they have really small applicant pools. 00:23:00.000 --> 00:23:04.000 The dollar amounts might be smaller, but really you're not competing against too many people, 00:23:04.000 --> 00:23:08.000 which is pretty nice. If you get involved in your community, 00:23:08.000 --> 00:23:12.000 that's a really good way to find out about these scholarships as well. 00:23:12.000 --> 00:23:16.000 You get plugged in with a group, the group gets to know you, you find out 00:23:16.000 --> 00:23:20.000 about the scholarship, you apply, the people who read the scholarship 00:23:20.000 --> 00:23:24.000 applications are like 'oh yeah, I know so-and-so, they came and volunteered 00:23:24.000 --> 00:23:28.000 for the beach clean up!' And those kinds of things. So you get an in 00:23:28.000 --> 00:23:32.000 in that way. Here's just kind of a little list 00:23:32.000 --> 00:23:36.000 of local community clubs that tend to give out scholarships. 00:23:36.000 --> 00:23:40.000 The Soroptomist Club - I've listed that one first, because they are super 00:23:40.000 --> 00:23:44.000 into giving scholarships for education. It's mostly for women, so 00:23:44.000 --> 00:23:48.000 sorry gentlemen in the room. When the Soroptomist Club was founded 00:23:48.000 --> 00:23:52.000 there were more men who went to college than women. Now there are 00:23:52.000 --> 00:23:56.000 more women that go to college than men. They were really trying to give the 00:23:56.000 --> 00:23:60.000 ladies a leg up, which looks like it worked, so I think Western's ratio 00:24:00.000 --> 00:24:04.000 is sixty percent women...does that sound correct? I may be wrong. 00:24:04.000 --> 00:24:08.000 You're nodding your head. It must feel that way, too. 00:24:12.000 --> 00:24:16.000 Fraternal Orders. Fraternal Orders are kind of funny little 00:24:16.000 --> 00:24:20.000 animals, like the Elks Club or the Oddfellows Club, 00:24:20.000 --> 00:24:24.000 it's just like these old dudes who got out of college and they're like 00:24:28.000 --> 00:24:32.000 get together!' So they do; they have their secret handshakes and all that stuff 00:24:32.000 --> 00:24:36.000 but they also raise money for scholarships. I just think it's funny to have any 00:24:36.000 --> 00:24:40.000 group called 'The Oddfellows. That shows a good sense of humor 00:24:40.000 --> 00:24:44.000 about oneself I think. We've talked about why 00:24:44.000 --> 00:24:48.000 searching for scholarships is important. We've talked about where we can 00:24:48.000 --> 00:24:52.000 find them, and now...How do I stand out? Because scholarships are 00:24:52.000 --> 00:24:56.000 a totally different beast than academic writing. You might 00:24:56.000 --> 00:24:60.000 have gotten A's on every single paper you've ever submitted. You might do 00:25:00.000 --> 00:25:04.000 wonderful on essay tests. This is just a different 00:25:04.000 --> 00:25:08.000 kind of thing. It's not about 'can you answer the exact question 00:25:08.000 --> 00:25:12.000 and we'll give you an A. It's about competing for limited resources. 00:25:12.000 --> 00:25:16.000 Really, it's about standing out. It's about looking different than someone 00:25:16.000 --> 00:25:20.000 who has your exact same GPA. Building your scholarship resume. 00:25:20.000 --> 00:25:24.000 It's kind of just something you can keep in mind. 00:25:24.000 --> 00:25:28.000 Every donor looks at your outside activities in addition to your 00:25:28.000 --> 00:25:32.000 academics. So they'll look at your GPA. But they'll also look at 00:25:32.000 --> 00:25:36.000 what kind of things are you doing outside of the classroom? Are you involved 00:25:36.000 --> 00:25:40.000 in sports, or leadership experiences? Do you volunteer? They 00:25:40.000 --> 00:25:44.000 really like things that are you unique, so something that's different. 00:25:44.000 --> 00:25:48.000 For instance, if everyone in your high school 00:25:48.000 --> 00:25:52.000 had gone and done a beach clean-up day - it was mandatory, everyone gets 00:25:52.000 --> 00:25:56.000 on the bus, you drive out to the coast, you do a beach clean-up day. 00:25:56.000 --> 00:25:60.000 Everyone from your high school; what are they gonna put on your scholarship 00:26:00.000 --> 00:26:04.000 application? 'I did a beach clean-up day!' And that donor will be like, 'wow, that's 00:26:04.000 --> 00:26:08.000 really cool, but you an everyone else!' So there's nothing 00:26:08.000 --> 00:26:12.000 to differentiate you from these other qualified applicants. So something 00:26:12.000 --> 00:26:16.000 that's unique. It's hard to do because you're students, you're so 00:26:16.000 --> 00:26:20.000 busy. You probably have jobs, you probably have family obligations. I get that. 00:26:20.000 --> 00:26:24.000 Anything that's super impactful. Did it actually make a difference? 00:26:24.000 --> 00:26:28.000 So, for instance, if you donate a pint of blood, that is great, that's fantastic. 00:26:28.000 --> 00:26:32.000 However, that may have less impact than something 00:26:32.000 --> 00:26:36.000 like doing a fundraiser for 00:26:36.000 --> 00:26:40.000 a family whose child is getting cancer treatments 00:26:40.000 --> 00:26:44.000 in Portland and they need accommodations and you and your efforts 00:26:44.000 --> 00:26:48.000 raised a thousand bucks, so that family could stay in 00:26:48.000 --> 00:26:52.000 an air B and B for a month or something. That's impactful, that's really impactful. 00:26:52.000 --> 00:26:56.000 Again, not to say that donating blood is not a good thing. It's a good thing. 00:26:56.000 --> 00:26:60.000 Just think about the impact of what you're doing, and that will help guide you 00:27:00.000 --> 00:27:04.000 in your efforts. Anything that's longer-term is really 00:27:04.000 --> 00:27:08.000 good, so if you volunteer one time at a food 00:27:08.000 --> 00:27:12.000 bank or a soup kitchen, that's great. Again, don't wanna 00:27:12.000 --> 00:27:16.000 minimize the impact of that. But if you can do that in several consecutive 00:27:16.000 --> 00:27:20.000 weekends, or just show your long-term commitment to that particular cause, 00:27:20.000 --> 00:27:24.000 then that scholarship donor is gonna say 'you know what, this 00:27:24.000 --> 00:27:28.000 person really cares enough about this particular issue to devote their time 00:27:28.000 --> 00:27:32.000 over a long period of time, to keep coming back and doing that. 00:27:32.000 --> 00:27:36.000 And that's admirable. And it looks better than that person who just 00:27:36.000 --> 00:27:40.000 went the one time. So again, we're competing here, we're trying to stand out. 00:27:40.000 --> 00:27:44.000 Unfortunately, that's the fact of the matter. Anything that's 00:27:44.000 --> 00:27:48.000 self-initiated. Scholarship donors love 00:27:48.000 --> 00:27:52.000 this. If you can show that you looked around 00:27:52.000 --> 00:27:56.000 your world and you identified some 00:27:56.000 --> 00:27:60.000 need in your community, or among your peers, and 00:28:00.000 --> 00:28:04.000 you had an idea about how to solve that, and you went and you did something 00:28:04.000 --> 00:28:08.000 to help solve that, a scholarship donor reads about that 00:28:08.000 --> 00:28:12.000 and just goes 'wow, this person is thoughtful, 00:28:12.000 --> 00:28:16.000 they are a self-starter, they really 00:28:16.000 --> 00:28:20.000 go out of their comfort zone to impact other people. 00:28:20.000 --> 00:28:24.000 So self-initiated. I would put a little star next to that one on this whole list. 00:28:24.000 --> 00:28:28.000 Anything that's cross-cultural. And by cross-cultural that could mean 00:28:28.000 --> 00:28:32.000 a variety of definitions of what that is. It's not necessarily that you travel 00:28:32.000 --> 00:28:36.000 to a different country. We all have our little bubbles. Your bubble 00:28:36.000 --> 00:28:40.000 might be defined by your age or 00:28:40.000 --> 00:28:44.000 by your socio-economic status or by your religion or by your 00:28:44.000 --> 00:28:48.000 ethnic identity. That might be part of your bubble. And anything that 00:28:48.000 --> 00:28:52.000 helps you get out of that bubble and maybe join up with 00:28:52.000 --> 00:28:56.000 someone else's bubble to kind of do that. That would be a cross-cultural thing. 00:28:56.000 --> 00:28:60.000 If it's related to your field of study. This is great, too, because 00:29:00.000 --> 00:29:04.000 scholarships are money to go to school. You're asking 00:29:04.000 --> 00:29:08.000 someone, 'please donate money to me, a stranger, 00:29:08.000 --> 00:29:12.000 because I want to study, for instance, public health. 00:29:12.000 --> 00:29:16.000 And if you can say 'I can 00:29:16.000 --> 00:29:20.000 demonstrate that I'm a good investment of this money because I am so 00:29:20.000 --> 00:29:24.000 dedicated to public health that I do things related to public health in my spare 00:29:24.000 --> 00:29:28.000 time. They will say 'oh, this person will do well in the pool. 00:29:28.000 --> 00:29:32.000 This person is emotionally and mentally engaged in their field of study 00:29:32.000 --> 00:29:36.000 and they're not gonna waste this money. 00:29:36.000 --> 00:29:40.000 They're really gonna make a difference. Here are some ways to get involved 00:29:40.000 --> 00:29:44.000 at WOU. Go to wou.edu/resources/student-resources 00:29:44.000 --> 00:29:48.000 You will find links for all of these things and there's just a ton. 00:29:48.000 --> 00:29:52.000 There's a ton of things that you can do on this campus here. One of the 00:29:52.000 --> 00:29:56.000 great benefits of our institution is we are 00:29:56.000 --> 00:29:60.000 small enough to where you can't necessarily get lost, there's lots of opportunities, 00:30:00.000 --> 00:30:04.000 we're connected with a bunch of community organizations, 00:30:04.000 --> 00:30:08.000 we're close to our state capital. 00:30:08.000 --> 00:30:12.000 So it's really advantageous to be at this school. This school is a great place 00:30:12.000 --> 00:30:16.000 to really get involved. Maybe some of you have 00:30:16.000 --> 00:30:20.000 stories about how you just got roped into being involved. I have a story 00:30:20.000 --> 00:30:24.000 of that. I came to WOU as a student back in 1998, 00:30:24.000 --> 00:30:28.000 and I got roped into RHA, which 00:30:28.000 --> 00:30:32.000 was Residence Hall Association, so I was like the secretary. I was like 'okay, I will 00:30:32.000 --> 00:30:36.000 go to this meeting and I will be the residence hall secretary. 00:30:36.000 --> 00:30:40.000 Then I got roped into being an RA and I just ended up getting involved 00:30:40.000 --> 00:30:44.000 because it's just that kind of community. I'm so grateful I did because 00:30:44.000 --> 00:30:48.000 I think that really helped me kind of figure out 00:30:48.000 --> 00:30:52.000 how I can relate to other people and how I can be influential with other people. 00:30:52.000 --> 00:30:56.000 It's not necessarily something I would have learned in the classroom. 00:30:56.000 --> 00:30:60.000 I would have been a good RA. You guys would've liked me, yeah? 00:31:00.000 --> 00:31:04.000 It was a great experience, I loved it. 00:31:04.000 --> 00:31:08.000 So what about WOU scholarships? Well... 00:31:08.000 --> 00:31:12.000 Oh, yes, let's go look at that webpage together. How many of you have already 00:31:12.000 --> 00:31:16.000 logged into the WOU scholarship application? Okay, a fair number of you. 00:31:16.000 --> 00:31:20.000 But enough who have not to where I 00:31:20.000 --> 00:31:24.000 will just pull it up here. 00:31:24.000 --> 00:31:28.000 But it's super easy to use. 00:31:28.000 --> 00:31:32.000 So much better than - well, first of all you can see here 00:31:32.000 --> 00:31:36.000 that we have a list of all of our scholarships. 00:31:36.000 --> 00:31:40.000 And you can search by keyword. 00:31:40.000 --> 00:31:44.000 Biology. Do we have any scholarship for biology majors? Look at that! 00:31:44.000 --> 00:31:48.000 We certainly do. How about education? 00:31:48.000 --> 00:31:52.000 Holy moly, a bunch! 00:31:52.000 --> 00:31:56.000 Once you're logged in, 00:31:56.000 --> 00:31:60.000 you just use your WOU Portal login credentials. 00:32:08.000 --> 00:32:12.000 You know when you're typing on a keyboard that's not your keyboard? 00:32:12.000 --> 00:32:16.000 So this is the administrator view. Let's look at an applicant 00:32:16.000 --> 00:32:20.000 view. Yay! And here's 00:32:20.000 --> 00:32:24.000 what the general application questions are. Your preferred name, 00:32:24.000 --> 00:32:28.000 what year will you be in college. Here's the place 00:32:28.000 --> 00:32:32.000 where you write the essay. Here's the place where you list your volunteering 00:32:32.000 --> 00:32:36.000 and activities. And you can either save and keep editing or you can finish 00:32:36.000 --> 00:32:40.000 and submit. I will say that you can 00:32:40.000 --> 00:32:44.000 go back and edit it after you initially submit it 00:32:44.000 --> 00:32:48.000 until March first. So if you've submitted 00:32:48.000 --> 00:32:52.000 already, and this presentation today has 00:32:52.000 --> 00:32:56.000 jogged your brain about your different activities or you decide 00:32:56.000 --> 00:32:60.000 you want to go a different direction with your essay, you can log back in and 00:33:00.000 --> 00:33:04.000 make that change. We will take whatever's on your application as of March first. 00:33:04.000 --> 00:33:08.000 If you've already submitted, all is not lost Go back and edit 00:33:08.000 --> 00:33:12.000 it if you'd like to. March first! That's our deadline. You already know it. 00:33:12.000 --> 00:33:16.000 But it bears repeating. Let's talk about the scholarship essay. 00:33:16.000 --> 00:33:20.000 Because this is really where people get tripped 00:33:20.000 --> 00:33:24.000 up. And it's not their fault. But they have had twelve, 00:33:24.000 --> 00:33:28.000 thirteen, fourteen years of education that has told them 00:33:32.000 --> 00:33:36.000 that is academic writing. So it's successful academic writing, which is great 00:33:36.000 --> 00:33:40.000 for that realm. But for scholarship essays, the rules are a little bit different. 00:33:40.000 --> 00:33:44.000 And I'm sorry to break it to you that we have taught you for many, many years 00:33:44.000 --> 00:33:48.000 how to be a great writer and now we're gonna tell you that that's not good 00:33:48.000 --> 00:33:52.000 enough anymore. So before you begin writing, you sit down, you read this 00:33:52.000 --> 00:33:56.000 application, you see the essay prompt, and you're like 'ugh, 00:33:56.000 --> 00:33:60.000 where do I start?' Well, think about, first, you need to understand 00:34:00.000 --> 00:34:04.000 why this donor is asking this question. What's 00:34:04.000 --> 00:34:08.000 the motivation? What do they want to know about me? Why would they 00:34:08.000 --> 00:34:12.000 choose this particular question to ask? It's a really good idea to sort of 00:34:12.000 --> 00:34:16.000 analyze the organization and who is asking this question is as important. 00:34:16.000 --> 00:34:19.000 For instance, the Coca Cola company provides a scholarship 00:34:19.000 --> 00:34:24.000 for students. It's a nationwide thing. They offer up to twenty thousand 00:34:24.000 --> 00:34:28.000 dollars; it's a really great scholarship. I'm not exactly sure what their essay 00:34:28.000 --> 00:34:32.000 prompt is for this year. But, for instance, let's just say that Coca Cola 00:34:32.000 --> 00:34:36.000 says to you 'tell us about 00:34:36.000 --> 00:34:40.000 what is the biggest threat to young peoples' health 00:34:40.000 --> 00:34:44.000 in the United States?' If you were to say 'I think it's soda,' 00:34:44.000 --> 00:34:48.000 they would probably not give you a scholarship. 00:34:48.000 --> 00:34:52.000 So maybe keep that in mind as you're writing your scholarship application 00:34:52.000 --> 00:34:56.000 for Coca Cola. Or Dell Computers. They also give out 00:34:56.000 --> 00:34:60.000 a scholarship. Let's say they ask the question 00:35:04.000 --> 00:35:08.000 in the last hundred years?' 00:35:08.000 --> 00:35:12.000 If you make your essay about how the computers break down the 00:35:12.000 --> 00:35:16.000 relationship between the teachers and the students, Dell 00:35:16.000 --> 00:35:19.000 Computers might say 'we are not giving you a scholarship. 00:35:19.000 --> 00:35:24.000 So just keep that in mind. It's important to keep in mind who your audience 00:35:24.000 --> 00:35:28.000 is. Of course, be genuine to yourself. Be true to yourself. 00:35:28.000 --> 00:35:32.000 If you really are like 'soda is the worst thing in the world, and I 00:35:32.000 --> 00:35:36.000 can't possibly write an essay for Coca Cola without mentioning 00:35:36.000 --> 00:35:40.000 how terrible it is,' maybe give that one a pass. Maybe don't apply for that 00:35:40.000 --> 00:35:44.000 particular scholarship. But just kind of think about who is 00:35:44.000 --> 00:35:48.000 asking you for information and why they might be. A popular 00:35:48.000 --> 00:35:52.000 type of scholarship is the 'So-and-so Memorial Scholarship. 00:35:52.000 --> 00:35:56.000 So a lot of times, if a person passes away, and their family 00:35:56.000 --> 00:35:60.000 in their grief, decides they want to set up a scholarship in 00:36:00.000 --> 00:36:04.000 memoriam of that person, they may 00:36:04.000 --> 00:36:08.000 say 'hey, this scholarship is memorial of so-and-so and they were really into 00:36:08.000 --> 00:36:12.000 rock climbing and they were a great teacher and a wonderful educator,' 00:36:12.000 --> 00:36:16.000 If you yourself are a rock climber, might be a good idea to mention 00:36:16.000 --> 00:36:20.000 that in your essay. It's a good idea to find parallels 00:36:20.000 --> 00:36:24.000 between yourself and that person who the people are trying to honor. 00:36:24.000 --> 00:36:28.000 That's why they care about you. 00:36:28.000 --> 00:36:32.000 They care about you because they care about this loved one that they have. 00:36:32.000 --> 00:36:36.000 And they want to know, in what ways you would be similar, in what ways you 00:36:36.000 --> 00:36:40.000 would be carrying on the passions that that person had. So it's all fine and good 00:36:40.000 --> 00:36:44.000 to talk about your own thing, but you might want to slip in rock climbing 00:36:44.000 --> 00:36:48.000 or education if those are indeed true about you. So just some 00:36:48.000 --> 00:36:52.000 tips. Think about who's asking the question. Think about why they'd be asking that. 00:36:52.000 --> 00:36:56.000 If you think about the person who is reading your essay - 00:36:56.000 --> 00:36:60.000 well I'll just tell you, as a person who reads many, many scholarship 00:37:00.000 --> 00:37:04.000 essays, has over the years, will again this year; I will read 00:37:04.000 --> 00:37:08.000 probably a hundred and fifty or two hundred scholarship essays, 00:37:08.000 --> 00:37:12.000 the same scholarship prompt over and over - and sort of what that looks 00:37:12.000 --> 00:37:16.000 like for me, is that's extra work on top of what I have to do every day. I love 00:37:16.000 --> 00:37:20.000 to do it; it's great, it's very satisfying. But what I do is I 00:37:20.000 --> 00:37:24.000 go home and I cook dinner and put my daughter to bed, 00:37:24.000 --> 00:37:28.000 and then I make myself a cup of tea and I prop my feet up on the coffee table, 00:37:28.000 --> 00:37:32.000 and normally this is my Netflix time, so I'm usually 00:37:32.000 --> 00:37:36.000 gonna dig into my stories here, but instead I'm 00:37:36.000 --> 00:37:40.000 reading scholarship applications for a few weeks. So, truly, I would like to be 00:37:40.000 --> 00:37:44.000 entertained. That would feel pretty good. I would really like that a lot, as I'm 00:37:44.000 --> 00:37:48.000 drinking my tea, I'm engaged and interested in what you're saying. 00:37:48.000 --> 00:37:52.000 So think about that. Dazzle me. Delight me. Entertain me. 00:37:52.000 --> 00:37:56.000 It's good to recognize that writing a scholarship 00:37:56.000 --> 00:37:60.000 is a different endeavor than academic writing. 00:38:00.000 --> 00:38:04.000 You make the grade by answering the question in a straightforward manner, you 00:38:04.000 --> 00:38:08.000 can still get an A. Basically as a scholarship applicant, if you're 00:38:08.000 --> 00:38:12.000 different that will really catch my attention. That's really gonna make you stand 00:38:12.000 --> 00:38:16.000 out. So if everyone is answering the question in the same way, and they all 00:38:16.000 --> 00:38:20.000 have very similar GPAs, and they all have very similar activities that they've done, 00:38:20.000 --> 00:38:24.000 if their essay is unique and interesting, I'm gonna be like 'oh! Extra points! 00:38:24.000 --> 00:38:28.000 Alright, you have my attention!' So be unique and interesting, definitely 00:38:28.000 --> 00:38:32.000 make it about you, and make sure your writing mechanics are flawless, 00:38:32.000 --> 00:38:36.000 and I mean this, you guys. Please edit your stuff before you submit it. 00:38:36.000 --> 00:38:40.000 In this day and age we have spell-check. There's really no excuse for bad 00:38:40.000 --> 00:38:44.000 spelling. Punctuation is important. Don't make me work for it. 00:38:44.000 --> 00:38:48.000 Present it to me in as polished a manner as possible, because, again, 00:38:48.000 --> 00:38:52.000 I'm on my couch, my feet are propped up, I'm drinking my tea. 00:38:52.000 --> 00:38:56.000 Don't make me work for the meaning. If I have to be like 'you know what, 00:38:56.000 --> 00:38:60.000 I just don't understand that sentence because there was not enough 00:39:00.000 --> 00:39:04.000 punctuation in there,' that's gonna make it difficult for me to feel good about 00:39:04.000 --> 00:39:08.000 awarding you a scholarship. Stay within the word guideline limits. 00:39:08.000 --> 00:39:12.000 We totally mean this. And this is, again, because it's a high volume 00:39:12.000 --> 00:39:16.000 of reading that we have to do. We have 00:39:16.000 --> 00:39:20.000 said 'we can probably handle about three hundred and fifty words from each 00:39:20.000 --> 00:39:24.000 person before we are ready to move on. 00:39:24.000 --> 00:39:28.000 But if you don't respect that three hundred and fifty word limit, and if you 00:39:28.000 --> 00:39:32.000 say 'you know what, I just have more things to say than the average person, 00:39:32.000 --> 00:39:36.000 so I'm gonna take five hundred words,' 00:39:36.000 --> 00:39:40.000 sorry, we're gonna exclude you. You didn't you follow instructions, you 00:39:40.000 --> 00:39:44.000 didn't follow directions and you're not being respectful of my time. Make sure 00:39:44.000 --> 00:39:48.000 you address the question being asked. That's kind of an obvious one, but 00:39:48.000 --> 00:39:52.000 not necessarily. There are some people who, in the past have written a killer 00:39:52.000 --> 00:39:56.000 essay that they got scholarships for, and they just want to recycle that exact 00:39:56.000 --> 00:39:60.000 thing. And they don't actually end up answering the question. That's difficult for 00:40:00.000 --> 00:40:04.000 us to say 'okay, yes, you followed instructions. Really make the essay 00:40:04.000 --> 00:40:08.000 about you. One thing I see a lot that kind of makes me 00:40:08.000 --> 00:40:12.000 sad because it's like 'oh, you did such a good job, telling 00:40:12.000 --> 00:40:16.000 me your theories on leadership, or you really explained the dictionary 00:40:16.000 --> 00:40:20.000 definition very well of what community service is, 00:40:20.000 --> 00:40:24.000 but you didn't talk about how it relates to you. Then 00:40:24.000 --> 00:40:28.000 I'm not gonna give you a scholarship. If appropriate, 00:40:28.000 --> 00:40:32.000 if there's space for it in the essay question, talk about 00:40:32.000 --> 00:40:36.000 how you're a good investment of the donor's funds. A lot of times donors 00:40:36.000 --> 00:40:40.000 will ask you, 'please state your education goals and career goals. 00:40:40.000 --> 00:40:44.000 That's a popular one. You can definitely 00:40:44.000 --> 00:40:48.000 slip in there 'I know that you're making an investment in me. I know you're 00:40:48.000 --> 00:40:52.000 providing funds for me, and here's how I will use those funds. 00:40:52.000 --> 00:40:56.000 Here's what I will do for the world when I've gotten my education. When I have 00:40:56.000 --> 00:40:60.000 my degree in public health, here's what I'm gonna go out and do. And you 00:41:00.000 --> 00:41:04.000 made that happen. You as a donor helped me get through school, and 00:41:04.000 --> 00:41:08.000 made that happen. And that makes the donor feel good, because ostensibly, 00:41:08.000 --> 00:41:12.000 that's why they are donating the money, is because they want to contribute 00:41:12.000 --> 00:41:16.000 to the betterment of the world, because an educated populace is a responsible, 00:41:16.000 --> 00:41:20.000 and a happy, and a giving populace, 00:41:20.000 --> 00:41:24.000 mostly, and they want to feel 00:41:24.000 --> 00:41:28.000 good about that. They want to feel good that they're spending their money on 00:41:28.000 --> 00:41:32.000 getting a good product, basically. So, this year's essay prompt 00:41:32.000 --> 00:41:36.000 for the general scholarship is 'tell us about an event or a circumstance 00:41:36.000 --> 00:41:40.000 that shaped you and made you into who you are today. 00:41:40.000 --> 00:41:44.000 That's pretty broad, and I want you to spend a few minutes 00:41:44.000 --> 00:41:48.000 kind of asking yourself, 'why are they asking this question?' 00:41:48.000 --> 00:41:52.000 What do we want? Why would we ask this question? 00:41:52.000 --> 00:41:56.000 The second thing that you should do, when you're pre-thinking about this, is 00:41:56.000 --> 00:41:60.000 when I'm sitting there in my PJ's, and I have my feet 00:42:00.000 --> 00:42:04.000 propped up and I'm drinking my tea and I'm reading your essay, what words 00:42:04.000 --> 00:42:08.000 do you hope I use to describe you as a person? You can kind of use that 00:42:08.000 --> 00:42:12.000 to frame your essay, because the heart of this essay 00:42:12.000 --> 00:42:16.000 is the thing that shaped you into who you are today. 00:42:16.000 --> 00:42:20.000 So who are you today? Are you brave? Are you 00:42:20.000 --> 00:42:24.000 intelligent? Are you kind? What are the words that you hope 00:42:24.000 --> 00:42:28.000 that I use to summarize who you are as a person. 00:42:28.000 --> 00:42:32.000 I think that's a really good way to help focus things because three 00:42:32.000 --> 00:42:36.000 hundred and fifty words is not a lot of words, and if you're trying to condense 00:42:36.000 --> 00:42:40.000 your entire life experience into a three hundred fifty word essay, it's super hard. 00:42:40.000 --> 00:42:44.000 So if you can just identify three or four or however 00:42:44.000 --> 00:42:48.000 many words that you hope that I use to describe you, then that 00:42:48.000 --> 00:42:52.000 will help keep you focused and it won't be so daunting to 00:42:52.000 --> 00:42:56.000 write a three hundred and fifty word essay. The second exercise 00:42:56.000 --> 00:42:60.000 that I would encourage you to do as you are preparing to apply for the WOU 00:43:00.000 --> 00:43:04.000 general scholarship...again, our prompt is 'tell us about an event or circumstance 00:43:04.000 --> 00:43:08.000 that shaped you and made you into who you are today. 00:43:08.000 --> 00:43:12.000 Taking a few minutes to write the most boring 00:43:12.000 --> 00:43:16.000 version of this is a really good way 00:43:16.000 --> 00:43:20.000 to do what I call 'get the wiggles out. My daughter is 00:43:20.000 --> 00:43:24.000 a kindergartener, and she definitely has to get the wiggles out before she can 00:43:24.000 --> 00:43:28.000 bring her best in any given situation. 00:43:28.000 --> 00:43:32.000 And so, rather than just taking the first thing that 00:43:32.000 --> 00:43:36.000 she gives me, I give her space to 00:43:36.000 --> 00:43:40.000 get those wiggles out, misbehave, do the things she needs 00:43:40.000 --> 00:43:44.000 to do in order to bring her best self. So this is kind of the same 00:43:44.000 --> 00:43:48.000 idea. Get out your most boring thoughts on paper. 00:43:48.000 --> 00:43:52.000 Write that very first knee-jerk reaction that comes into your head, because, 00:43:52.000 --> 00:43:56.000 again, you're competing against other applicants, and most other applicants, 00:43:56.000 --> 00:43:60.000 people who have not come to this lovely presentation, will write the most 00:44:00.000 --> 00:44:04.000 boring version of that essay prompt. 00:44:04.000 --> 00:44:08.000 And they'll turn that in and they will feel good about it, because they have 00:44:08.000 --> 00:44:12.000 answered the question. So they will feel like 'yes, I nailed this. Click! Submit!' 00:44:12.000 --> 00:44:16.000 But I read it and I'm like 'wow, this sounds exactly 00:44:16.000 --> 00:44:20.000 like the last three, four, five essays that I 00:44:20.000 --> 00:44:24.000 just read. So get your wiggles out. Write the most boring version. 00:44:24.000 --> 00:44:28.000 Do it. Do the whole three hundred and fifty words, and then 00:44:28.000 --> 00:44:32.000 take a deep breath and start on version two, and then 00:44:32.000 --> 00:44:36.000 as you're writing version two, which, presumably should be a different 00:44:36.000 --> 00:44:40.000 circumstance or event entirely...maybe not, could be 00:44:40.000 --> 00:44:44.000 the same thing...and then you can refer back to that first boring 00:44:44.000 --> 00:44:48.000 draft. So if you start seeing your language kind of mirror what you did 00:44:48.000 --> 00:44:52.000 in that first attempt, that boring attempt, you can say 'oh, 00:44:52.000 --> 00:44:56.000 I should rephrase this so it doesn't sound like the most boring 00:44:56.000 --> 00:44:60.000 version of this. And that's what I would recommend 00:45:00.000 --> 00:45:04.000 you to do, is just to get your wiggles out, write that boring 00:45:04.000 --> 00:45:08.000 one, and don't submit that one. Submit the exciting one. 00:45:08.000 --> 00:45:12.000 A lot of people would say, 'oh, an event or circumstance that shaped me. 00:45:12.000 --> 00:45:16.000 One of the things that will come to their mind is something big that happened 00:45:16.000 --> 00:45:20.000 to them, like maybe their parents got divorced or maybe they went on a trip. 00:45:20.000 --> 00:45:24.000 Those are kind of the obvious ones. 00:45:24.000 --> 00:45:28.000 And it could very well be the thing that shaped you into who you are today, 00:45:28.000 --> 00:45:32.000 but a lot of the things that shape us as people are 00:45:32.000 --> 00:45:36.000 small, seemingly insignificant circumstances. 00:45:36.000 --> 00:45:40.000 Just little things that happen. 00:45:40.000 --> 00:45:44.000 You know, you're on a 00:45:44.000 --> 00:45:48.000 trip and you have a layover in a strange airport 00:45:48.000 --> 00:45:52.000 and you didn't bring your cell phone charger and you didn't 00:45:52.000 --> 00:45:56.000 bring anything to read, so you picked up 00:45:56.000 --> 00:45:60.000 a book that someone had left and it was a book that you would never pick 00:46:00.000 --> 00:46:04.000 up and you would never read this book. you started reading this book and 00:46:04.000 --> 00:46:08.000 it's crazy ideas, it's totally different than your normal life. 00:46:08.000 --> 00:46:12.000 But you kept reading it because you had to. You're in the airport; you're 00:46:12.000 --> 00:46:16.000 trapped, you might as well. So giving space to those new ideas 00:46:16.000 --> 00:46:20.000 was a thing that shaped you, maybe. That's interesting. I would read that 00:46:20.000 --> 00:46:24.000 essay. And I would cheer with my tea-cup. Yes, you 00:46:24.000 --> 00:46:28.000 got it! You understand! Helpful resources - 00:46:28.000 --> 00:46:32.000 these are some scholarship matching services that I encourage you to 00:46:32.000 --> 00:46:36.000 sign up for. Again, you'll get the spam from these folks. 00:46:36.000 --> 00:46:40.000 But you'll also get good stuff as well. 00:46:40.000 --> 00:46:44.000 Bigfuture.collegboard.org is one I particularly like, 00:46:44.000 --> 00:46:48.000 mostly because Collegeboard is a company that really makes 00:46:48.000 --> 00:46:52.000 its money off of - like, they're the ones who do the SAT. 00:46:52.000 --> 00:46:56.000 They also administer all AP classes, so if you 00:46:56.000 --> 00:46:60.000 took any advanced placement classes, and took an advanced placement test 00:47:00.000 --> 00:47:04.000 in high school, those are the folks who got the money, basically, for 00:47:04.000 --> 00:47:08.000 those tests that you took and those kinds of things. Sot hey have other products 00:47:08.000 --> 00:47:12.000 that they sell, that are their money-makers, and this is truly like a 00:47:12.000 --> 00:47:16.000 little freebie that they tack on. 00:47:16.000 --> 00:47:20.000 Fastweb is kind of the worst for the ads, I gotta say. They are the most well- 00:47:20.000 --> 00:47:24.000 known, and they do have tons of scholarships on there, but yeah. 00:47:24.000 --> 00:47:28.000 They must make a ton of money off of ads. And WOU's 00:47:28.000 --> 00:47:32.000 writing center. This is a great resource, because 00:47:32.000 --> 00:47:36.000 once you have that draft of your essay and your mom has read it, and of 00:47:36.000 --> 00:47:40.000 course she's gonna say 'it's amazing, I love it, of course you'll get a scholarship,' 00:47:40.000 --> 00:47:44.000 and once you've had your roommate read it, then you might want to have 00:47:44.000 --> 00:47:48.000 someone from the writing center take a look at it. Or if you're just stuck, like 00:47:52.000 --> 00:47:56.000 the tree fell on my house, and I really felt like that was 00:47:56.000 --> 00:47:60.000 transformative for me but I can't exactly figure out how to get there. 00:48:00.000 --> 00:48:04.000 They can help you do some drafting. They can certainly clean up your 00:48:04.000 --> 00:48:08.000 essay once it's done; they can definitely help lead you in the right direction for 00:48:08.000 --> 00:48:12.000 punctuation, perfect mechanics, those kinds of things that I demand 00:48:12.000 --> 00:48:16.000 as a scholarship reader. If you have any questions 00:48:16.000 --> 00:48:20.000 don't hesitate to contact us. We're on the third floor of the Administration 00:48:20.000 --> 00:48:24.000 building, and our e-mail address is finaid@wou.edu. 00:48:24.000 --> 00:48:28.000 We'd be happy to answer any of your questions. Thank you. 00:48:28.000 --> 00:48:32.000 music 00:48:32.000 --> 00:48:34.000 music ends