MONEY FOR COLLEGE
Scholarship funds don’t have to be so elusive By Tena Lee Sumner County Publications
It’s an expense some start saving for when their child is still in diapers. For others, life’s unexpected turns prevent them from ever building up a sizable college fund. In her new book, Con-
fessions of a Scholarship Winner, Vanderbilt University graduate Kristina Ellis offers valuable advice for parents and students hoping to claim a share of the more than 1.5 million scholarship awards available to students. Ellis began research-
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ing scholarship options as a high school freshman when her mother, a widow who lost Ellis’s dad to cancer, told her she wouldn’t be able to afford to put her daughter through college. “My mom lit a fire within me, inspiring me to work hard and figure out how I could pay for my
own education,” she said. “I became determined to get involved in activities that would stand out to scholarship committees.” She wasn’t a straight-A student or a star athlete, Ellis says, but she did spend countless hours researching what it would take to win over scholar-
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ship judges. In the end, she was able to win $500,000 in scholarships for college, obtaining both a bachelor’s degree from Vanderbilt and a master’s degree from Belmont University – debt-free. The first-time author hopes her book will save students time, and teach them how to stand out from the competition. But first, she cautions against a few misconceptions about scholarship offers. For one, they’re not just for “smart” people. “While academics do matter, most scholarship judges look at far more than just grades and SAT scores,” Ellis said. “They’re looking for students with the potential to make a positive difference in the world. I worked really hard to demonstrate my potential to judges in other ways, such as through work, sports, and volunteering.” Also, don’t think you just have to get one big award, she says. Many students fully fund their education with multiple
smaller scholarships “It’s great to focus extra efforts on a few big scholarships you really want, but also realize that several small scholarships can add up quickly, Ellis and there is often less competition for smaller scholarships,” she said. In her own words, Ellis gives several tips for obtaining scholarship money: Follow a Road map. There are books available that serve as road maps, developed by people like me who have successfully traveled the scholarship road and have laid out tips to guide you through the process. Follow our directions and create a strategy for applying what you learn to your own life. Do What You Love. Scholarship committees
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