Always Apply For Scholarships!
This is another installment in the "wherein I brag about my kiddo" component of this blog, but there's an important story to be told in the bragging.
That's my youngest, having just finished his 8th grade year at Brother Martin High School in New Orleans. As you can see, he was a member of the marching band. He also was one of five 8th graders who had perfect grades throughout the year and were exempt from all their final exams. He's a good kid, even if he's a bit full of himself at the moment.
Little brother's latest accomplishment almost didn't happen, because his dad is a goof. A few weeks back, Kev brought home information about a scholarship sponsored by the Seelos Center. The scholarship is for eighth graders who are entering ninth grade at Catholic high schools in New Orleans. The scholarship is awarded on the basis of academic achievement first, need second.
It's the latter criteria where I had my concerns. We're not wealthy people, but when I see "need" in one of these scholarship applications, I'm hesitant to apply. My first thought is usually, surely there must be a family out there who needs the money more than we do? Wife agreed with me, and we were about to leave it at that when our firstborn got into the discussion.
Big Brother has a different take on life in general, being both smarter and younger than his old man. He took a look at the information handout on the scholarship and said, "Look, this says academic first. He should apply. If there's a kid who is as smart as Kevin and needs the money more, then they'll give it to that kid. Not to mention you can use the money. Catholic school tuition isn't cheap and you're paying for my Ga Tech tuition as well."
He's 100% right, of course, on all counts. Kev's a smart kid and deserves to be rewarded for the hard work he's done. We're also NOT rich, and yeah, we could use the break on tuition. With fees, etc., kev's tuition for next year will come very close to $7K, and if the Seelos folks want to help us with that obligation, it's crazy not to go for that help. We can put the savings in the bank against his college tuition.
We took the firstborn's advice and applied for the scholarship. Kev wrote an excellent essay, talking about how he's heard about Fr. Seelos and St. Mary's Assumption Church (the location of the Seelos Shrine) from his dad, who used to teach at Redeemer High School (which was what Redemptorist High, located across the street from St. Mary's, became when the Irish Channel school closed and moved to Gentilly). I wrote a three-paragraph note that was included with the application and his essay, explaining our financial situation.
Last week, wife got a call from Kev's school in the middle of the day. It was Kevin, calling from the principal's office. Oh, crap, now what?
He won the scholarship.
The school's first Mass of the year always recognizes the recipients of the school's academic scholarships (4- and 5-year awards to incoming 8th and 9th graders-both of my boys received that scholarship), so Mr. Rando said they'll recognize Kev for the Seelos scholarship then. He had just received the letter that day, though, so he wanted to let us know. Like all schools, Brother Martin loves to brag on their kids as much as mom and dad do.
The moral of the story is simple: Apply for any and all scholarships for which your kids are eligible! At least up until you win the lottery.
That's my youngest, having just finished his 8th grade year at Brother Martin High School in New Orleans. As you can see, he was a member of the marching band. He also was one of five 8th graders who had perfect grades throughout the year and were exempt from all their final exams. He's a good kid, even if he's a bit full of himself at the moment.
Little brother's latest accomplishment almost didn't happen, because his dad is a goof. A few weeks back, Kev brought home information about a scholarship sponsored by the Seelos Center. The scholarship is for eighth graders who are entering ninth grade at Catholic high schools in New Orleans. The scholarship is awarded on the basis of academic achievement first, need second.
It's the latter criteria where I had my concerns. We're not wealthy people, but when I see "need" in one of these scholarship applications, I'm hesitant to apply. My first thought is usually, surely there must be a family out there who needs the money more than we do? Wife agreed with me, and we were about to leave it at that when our firstborn got into the discussion.
Big Brother has a different take on life in general, being both smarter and younger than his old man. He took a look at the information handout on the scholarship and said, "Look, this says academic first. He should apply. If there's a kid who is as smart as Kevin and needs the money more, then they'll give it to that kid. Not to mention you can use the money. Catholic school tuition isn't cheap and you're paying for my Ga Tech tuition as well."
He's 100% right, of course, on all counts. Kev's a smart kid and deserves to be rewarded for the hard work he's done. We're also NOT rich, and yeah, we could use the break on tuition. With fees, etc., kev's tuition for next year will come very close to $7K, and if the Seelos folks want to help us with that obligation, it's crazy not to go for that help. We can put the savings in the bank against his college tuition.
We took the firstborn's advice and applied for the scholarship. Kev wrote an excellent essay, talking about how he's heard about Fr. Seelos and St. Mary's Assumption Church (the location of the Seelos Shrine) from his dad, who used to teach at Redeemer High School (which was what Redemptorist High, located across the street from St. Mary's, became when the Irish Channel school closed and moved to Gentilly). I wrote a three-paragraph note that was included with the application and his essay, explaining our financial situation.
Last week, wife got a call from Kev's school in the middle of the day. It was Kevin, calling from the principal's office. Oh, crap, now what?
He won the scholarship.
The school's first Mass of the year always recognizes the recipients of the school's academic scholarships (4- and 5-year awards to incoming 8th and 9th graders-both of my boys received that scholarship), so Mr. Rando said they'll recognize Kev for the Seelos scholarship then. He had just received the letter that day, though, so he wanted to let us know. Like all schools, Brother Martin loves to brag on their kids as much as mom and dad do.
The moral of the story is simple: Apply for any and all scholarships for which your kids are eligible! At least up until you win the lottery.
Congrats to your accomplished son. I probably wouldn't have gotten any scholarships if I'd applied, but I remember one of the more formative lessons of my life from my high school English & Philosophy teacher who encouraged those of us whose parents could afford college not to apply for scholarships. I'm sure my parents would have flipped, but because of their perspective, I just thought you always apply for anything you can get, and this teacher told me that I had the option of skipping them. Again, it probably made no difference, but I appreciated his perspective.
Now that it's MY money, I am applying for the mental health benefits from the Red Cross, so don't take me as self-righteous!
Congrats again, and I hope his college experience is as enlightening as mine was.
Congratulations to 2nd son! Scholarships are wonderful and I think anyone who works to keep up a high gpa deserves it.
My hubby went through college on an engineering scholarship. Thank goodness cuz we were married the last 2 years and living on my big salary of $5k a year & living in a gov't subsidized apartment.
Wow congrats to your son! That is a fantastic way to end out the year!
thanks for the props, guys! He's really made us proud. :-)
HammHawk, one thing about Brother Martin, they encourage the boys to go for every scholarship there is.
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