apply for scholarships

Fingers crossed.. actually I’m not too hopeful. I don’t have “demonstrated” financial need. But my essay was pretty good and so is my GPA, so I should have a fighting chance. Sometime soon, I will start a fresh spreadsheet for the fall/spring scholarship deadlines. My goal is to make senior year practically free!

I recycled a (very good) essay I wrote for a different application. I’m not sure if it’s quite what they’re looking for (it’s not really a tear-jerker), but I already have a good essay, so I didn’t see a reason to not use it. I wish more applications had the same essay topics.. I’m so tired to making up new ones!

I know I was planning on finishing it much earlier, but I finally submitted that essay. I have a draft of the Big Dig waiting to be torn apart (will do tomorrow). Unfortunately, I won’t get to the Proofreading essay, but I am actually really proud of the essay I just finished polishing. I can probably use it as a personal statement, although I may have to shorten it since it’s nearly 1000 words long!

I accidentally wrote a full draft for the essay (oops…) and I sent it to my reviewers too. Oh well! Being faster than my plan is not an issue atm, since I’m a bit short on time for my last planned essay anyway :).

I have 3 scholarships whose deadlines are at the end of this month:

1) Big Dig essay
2) B. Davis essay
3) Proofreading essay

Each requires a fairly substantial essay (1000+ words), but the rewards are decent ($1,000+). The steps for each essay will include:

1) Rough outline
2) Rough draft
3) Submit to at least 2 people for review
4) Optional rewrite
5) First edit
6) Final edit with a read aloud session

I’ve been nibbling on the first two essays for a couple of weeks, but I’ve decided that I will instead focus on ONE essay for steps 1-3 (or 4 depending on how quickly my reviewers get back to me), before I start on another. I’m not very good at multitasking and working on multiple essays at once just gives me an excuse to do ‘nothing’.

Here is my plan:

Tue 5-15 Roughly outline B. Davis essay (since the deadline is
the soonest, on the 28th)
Wed 5-16 Roughly draft for B. Davis essay
Thu 5-17 Roughly draft for B. Davis essay
Fri 5-18 Email B. Davis essay to 2 reviewers; Start
roughly outlining Big Dig essay
Sat 5-19 Roughly draft for Big Dig essay

Sun 5-20 Roughly draft for Big Dig essay
Mon 5-21 Rewrite and/or edit 1 for B. Davis essay
Tue 5-22 Finish edit 1 for B. Davis essay
Wed 5-23 Final edit for B. Davis essay and SUBMIT
Thu 5-24 Email Big Dig essay to reviewers; start outlining
Proofreading essay
Fri 5-25 Roughly draft Proofreading essay
Sat 5-26 Roughly draft Proofreading essay; email to reviewers

Sun 5-27 Rewrite and/or edit 1 for Big Dig essay
Mon 5-28 Finish edit for Big Dig essay; Final edit & SUBMIT
Tue 5-29 Rewrite and/or edit 1 for Proofreading essay
Wed 5-30 Finish editing Proofreading essay
Thu 5-31 Final edit & submit Proofreading essay

I decided against doing the cancer-themed essay scholarship (unclear directions and a snappy, unhelpful response from the lady I emailed). Next, I will focus my efforts on the big dig essay scholarship. I may have found the object that I will talk about, but I will need to collect data on what the projected price in 200 yrs would be. After that, there is an interesting contest that deals with examining public health data and I will work on that.

I applied for the “second chance” scholarship yesterday. I think that it really helps if I just pick a day to do the scholarship and allot time for it in my calendar. Otherwise, I just look at it and forget about it. The results will be announced in late August.

I didn’t win the “courage to grow” again and neither did I win the “frame my future” competition. I’m getting discouraged. I haven’t won anything even though I’ve been searching and applying since November of last year. It’s kind of like winning the lottery.

I wrote a brand new essay for Courage to Grow and submitted it yesterday. I think it’s a little more along the mood of the way the other winning essays sounded, but I remained true to myself. I think every other month they get a really, REALLY good essay whose story I just can’t match, while the others are anywhere from whiney to standard fare. I really need this money, so fingers crossed!

On the other hand, I decided not to do the WyzAnt important lesson essay because the essays aren’t judged by a committee, just any random people who get on the site. I just can’t match the social networking skills some people have to get 2,000+ votes. Just as an example, by facebook friend lists rarely tops 100. Oh well.

To be honest, I didn’t try very hard on my drawing. Plus, I couldn’t use the good camera, so my drawing doesn’t look as good in the picture as it in in person. So, I’m not really expecting to win.. maybe next year. :(

I also just sent an email to our scholarships office with their special student form. Maybe they will suggest more obscure scholarships.

I stalled my progress on this goal while I focused on my internship applications.. but now I will pick it up again. This week, I’m going to be working very hard on the Frame my Future (art piece) scholarship. I’m not really sure exactly what I’m going to do, but I’m thinking that it will be a painting (I’ve been missing the therapeutic qualities of painting) and potentially about my aspiration to go to peace corps. I’m not really sure how I will represent how I’ll combine my personal and professional goals.. since I’m not sure about this in real life.. but I will be putting in a couple hours a day until the 4th, when I will stop painting and start figuring out how to take a picture, take care of any writing to go along with it, etc. It should be fun!