Seniors strive for scholarships

As the college application season passes, another comes along- the season of scholarships. Millions of scholarships are available every year, and of those applicants who apply, only handfuls are chosen.

    The process can be very stressful for high school seniors, including senior Audrey Dick.  “I applied to two different scholarships at a school I wish to attend in the fall, ” and adds that “it was definitely a stressful process, but I[Audrey] am very excited to see if I qualified for it.”      

     Another senior waiting to hear back from scholarships is Samantha Fielder, who says that she has applied to “The Jefferson scholarship for UVA, the DAR scholarship, Maryland DAR scholarship, and the Charlie Riley Scholarship.” She is still waiting on the Jefferson Scholarship, which would include a full ride to UVA.

     While some students are waiting to hear back, others have been awarded with scholarships. Senior Ian Ladenheim says that he was just awarded the Chancellor’s Achievement Scholarship for CU Boulder, he adds that he is planning on majoring in Aerospace engineering at CU Boulder in the fall.

    All scholarships come in different forms, from essays to artwork, films to pictures. One of the scholarships that Dick applied for required a supplemental piece. The senior says she is planning on submitting the glasswork she has constructed in her crafts art class, which includes “a simple and complex sun catcher and two glass etching ornaments.”

     Dick says that crafts is one of her favorite classes because she loves the flexibility and artistic freedom she has.

      The art student says that she has applied to two full-tuition scholarships at Chatham University, including the Presidential Scholarship and the Rachel Carson Scholarship. For both of these scholarships, she had to write an essay, submit a resume and submit test scores. She says that she will probably apply for some more through Naviance, the college and career ready website the school utilizes.

     Students do not stop at scholarships when looking to the future though; many seniors are participating in dual enrollment as well. Senior Jack Palmer says that he plans on majoring in nursing while in college,and to get ahead he adds that he is bettering his future by doing dual enrollment at Harford Community College. He believes he is making his future easier in the long run by getting college classes out of the way. Palmer is applying to Towson, Stevenson, York, Penn State, Delaware, North Carolina and Clemson.

    Mrs. Jeanne Heinze, guidance counselor, says that more and more scholarships are added to Naviance every day and that students really have to apply to 100 of them if they want to get ten.