Road to College: Finding scholarships
Working during her flex period, senior Riley Sims fills out her HSSF Uniform Application on Feb. 25.
Senior Riley Sims flips through a packet with a pen in hand, underlining each of her eligible scholarships. After selecting four, she gets to work on her computer drafting essays and writing personal statements in preparation to attend Ball State University next year.
This packet, which can be found in guidance, contains a list of scholarships available to seniors by the HSE Foundation. HSSF awards about 150 scholarships each year to FHS and HSE graduates. These awards range from $200-$16,000.
“I decided to do the HSSF scholarships because I don’t want to be in college debt,” Sims said. “My older sister is in college and she didn’t do any scholarships and it cost my mom a lot of money. I am just trying to save me and my mom money and make college cheaper.”
HSSF now offers an online Uniform Application, which is a single application that allows students to apply for all scholarships they qualify for. Most scholarships require additional information such as essays and letters of recommendation and are due by March 27.
“First, I filled out a common application on the HSE Community Foundation,” Sims said. “Then my specific scholarships required me to write essays and statements about my future plans.”
There are multiple other scholarships available to students outside of HSSF. Senior Sophie Foley, who plans to attend Xavier University next year, applied to scholarships available to her through the college. Once she applied, the school emailed her a list of scholarships she was eligible for.
“There were two scholarships that I filled out for Xavier University,” Foley said. “One was an Indiana scholarship, which is just for being a student in Indiana. The second was a St. Xavier scholarship.”
Another resource available to students includes websites such as College Board’s Scholarship Search that match students to scholarships they qualify for.
“There are definitely enough scholarships available, Foley said. “You just need to keep searching. Don’t be afraid to apply for cheap scholarships. Every scholarship counts. Even a $500 one pays for books.”
This is Carson's second year on staff and first year as the Arts & Culture editor. She loves to read, write, and travel and is very excited for the year.
