Education funds dry up

By Johnathan McFadden

The hunt for scholarships and any other kind of financial assistance to fund the remaining two years of my education has intensified.

When the economy took a royal plunge, taking some of my scholarship funds with it, the crunch for money became all the more important.

I’m not alone. In the past few weeks, the mass communication department has been overrun with students rushing to fill out scholarship applications. Personally, I’ve frequented the Office of Student Services at Kinard to check on the status of scholarships posted on their Web site.

After spending most of the money I had saved for a car on school books last semester, it became apparent that money was tight and my priorities had to change.

Before I even began my search, I already made the decision not to be intimidated or turn away from any scholarship opportunities that come my way. No matter how much work was involved, no matter how many copies of my resume or transcript I needed to send, I was going to jump in and apply, apply, apply.

And so the hunt began.

I looked at scholarships that were very specific to my major. I found scholarships that had absolutely nothing to do with my major.

I found scholarships from organizations that I had never heard of. I even entered some of my published work in a contest.

When I get a chance, my plan is to cross the street and enter my name in a box at McDonald’s to try my hand at the scholarship they’re offering.

At this point, no amount of money is too big or too small. After all, every little bit helps.

There is no time to waste as costs for higher education become higher and academic competition becomes fiercer. With all that is happening on college campuses across the nation, who knows what will become of tuition in the next year or so.