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Goals
Get a full scholarship to attend a private boarding school for high school
Joy applied to several other boarding and private high schools in the 8th grade, but none offered her the full ride she needed. A board member of Community Prep, who had offered his educational consulting services to students, drove Joy to her final interview at Dublin, a small boarding school in the hills of southern New Hampshire.
The Director of Admissions at Dublin confronted a very motivated, yet distraught young woman that day as Joy expounded on her experiences applying to schools and working with the financial aid offices. The Director was frank with Joy and careful to manage her expectations. He shared that, while he understood her frustration and challenges, she faced an unfair reality. The fact was schools may be able to help 5 other students with a partial scholarship OR they could accept Joy on a single full scholarship. Joy appreciated his honesty. When asked to go on a campus tour, Joy said she would be happy to but that it was not necessary. She knew she wanted and needed to be there. The Director then met with the board member who had driven Joy to school and they all decided to go on that afternoon tour. Throughout, Joy tried to quell her excitement while still remaining hopeful that a miracle could happen and she could actually attend.
A few weeks later Joy received a thin envelope in the mail from Dublin. Before opening it, she prayed to God for strength to be able to thrive in the public high school she was slated to attend had this letter brought the same familiar news she had heard from other schools. She then proceeded to open the letter to find "Congratulations..." and a statement that a balance of $0.00 would be due on Sept 1. Joy graciously started packing her bags!
Key to accomplishing this goal in a nutshell:
- Own your own education. Very few make it based on looks, sports ability, musical or creative talents alone, and even fewer born poor. Make your mind your most valuable asset by getting the most out of every single day in the classroom.
- Seek out teachers and administrative officers at school, and ask them for help.
- Try the library. Public libraries have a plethora of free resources on scholarships and programs available in your city, state, country, and all over the world, and librarians tend to be the most helpful, yet under-utilized people around.
- Think long term. Realize you cannot be much help to others you care about, until you help yourself. It is often difficult to spend time studying, especially when there may be family pressure to contribute financially. Fight the urge to provide little now, so that you can choose to provide more later.
- Fight the odds. There is no question you will face rejection when the odds are against you, but you must never give up.