When I learned she applied her $600 Supplemental Scholarship award toward tuition, I realized she’s a partial scholarship recipient, who like many could be denied a semester’s registration if the balance isn’t paid. And she may struggle with making ends meetdue to additional college costs on top of day to day and college related expenses. So I asked about her college scholarship: "I am a scholarship student but it is only partial. Having the option to benefit from ongoing support via your supplemental scholarship awards would be a huge help for myself and my parents. My parents are currently working on figuring out how to afford sending my sister to college in the Fall for her freshman year. So, helping pay a part of my remaining tuition would be much appreciated.” She’ll be hearing from me with a follow up conversation to better understand how we can help. Luz’s Recent Financial Dilemma Luz emailed mid-January with a Subject, "Additional Support for College”: “... I’m Luz, one of the students you helped get a free laptop for college. I just wanted to thank you and All Out for Change again; it has been such a great help and a load off my shoulders. This semester, I might have an opportunity to be a notetaker for one of my classes so I’m planning on looking for an iPad Pro to make that easier. Does All Out for Change or any other organization you know offer iPads?... it will be useful for annotating my typed-up notes, and especially for drawing molecular structures in chemistry and diagrams in physics.” Knowing what a difference the awarded iPad made for Anthony since fall 2020, I told her we’d take care of the iPad Pro and Apple pencil. She returned to Northeastern University in Boston, where she’s a scholarship student majoring in Biology, with an essential tool for her pursuit of a profession in research. From campus, she wrote, "The iPad is great and will be such a great help. I appreciate it and the work you do!" I Reach Out Assuring Them We’re Here for Them We understand there are so many college-related and day to day expenses that partial and full academic scholarships don’t cover. In our awareness of that challenge we’re here to take some of the load off students’ and families’ shoulders knowing what a difference it can make: keep them in school; allow them to achieve their well-deserved potential and goals; and reduce their and their families’ debt. Read This Recent Article in The Washington Post - "When a small expense threatens a college education" It sheds light on student conundrums that so few people understand exist. A degree, career and upward mobility is truly a perilous journey these days. “A lot of people think if you give a kid a scholarship, now the kid’s set, they’ve got everything they need,” said Chris Metzler, director of student services at Thaddeus Stevens College of Technology in Pennsylvania. “Nothing could be further from the truth.” "To a middle-income kid from a neighborhood with two cars in every garage, it may be incomprehensible that something costing less than a few burritos at Chipotle could derail a person’s college education. But for many young people across the country — growing up in homes where there’s little left after paying rent and utilities — the challenge is painfully familiar." You can find more enlightening reads on our eye-opening stories page. Donations of any size, all together help us fulfill our mission.
YOUR DONATION IN ITS ENTIRETY IS INVESTED IN OUR STUDENT SCHOLARS |
MaryAnn PuglisiChief Engagement Officer, AllOutForChange.org Categories |