August 2015
My summer was coming to an end. For me, and many other students, this meant my income was coming to an end too. I sat down with a calculator and took a long, hard look at my expenses. There were a lot of them. All I could think was, “Thank goodness for that automatically applied academic excellence scholarship.”
February 2016
Over here in Universityland, summer is a distant memory. So are my summer wages. Luckily, I haven’t missed the deadline for scholarship applications yet. It’s February 28. If I had missed it, the next mid-August look at my expenses might have been a little more difficult than usual.
If I were a new student, I would be writing my leadership scholarship application right now. That could get me up to $14,000 towards my tuition. A thousand-word essay on something I’m already passionate about, asking some people to vouch for me and filling out an application is not a lot of work compared to that much financial support.
Or maybe, because I’m interested in learning through thinking and doing, I should apply for the academic merit scholarship which could cover $1000 of my school fees and I could renew it every year. I should probably let my music student friends know there are scholarships specific to the music program, and I should let the people in my life who willingly enter science classrooms know about the arts and sciences scholarship.
August 2016
(because I applied for scholarships before February 28)
I am so glad I applied for those scholarships in February even this next school year seemed like a distant future.
August 2016
(because I procrastinated until after February 28)
My budget is not happy with me.
Because I went and asked somebody, I know that CMU gives away more than $550,000 in scholarships every single year. I know that my bank balance would really appreciate some of that generosity. Would yours?
Ayla Manning is one of CMU’s Student Ambassadors
Learn more about the scholarships, bursaries, and grants CMU has available