“Last year, over 100 million dollars for scholarship monies went unclaimed. The problem is students don’t apply. Let’s see if we can change that,” stated Ochoa.
This cloudy morning in a packed room at the Linfield College School of Nursing, over fifty bilingual students where over ninety-five percent were bilingual in Spanish, one spoke Mixteco and one spoke Portuguese, attended the Hispanic Metropolitan Chamber (HMCC) sponsored “Path to Scholarships” workshop. The hands on workshop was presented by co-author of Path to Scholarships College Edition, and scholarship consultant, Gerardo Ochoa. He is also the Associate Director of Financial Aid at the Linfield College Portland campus. The Latino students came from as far as Hood River and Independence, Oregon. Many are athletes, many leaders in their student government, one ASB President in attendance and many working part-time. At least seventy-five percent will be the first to go to college in their family. They all attest to their parents commitment to education, strong work ethics and their example as to why they are here.
“Your career is your vehicle to accomplish your purpose in life. Purpose and life is much bigger than you. You need to be addressing the needs of others,” asserted Ochoa.
The Scholarship Essay
It is the most important element of the scholarships application process, and you have 4-seconds to grab the attention of the reader. The essay must discuss your family, and obstacles. Specifically how we overcame those obstacles, how we moved on, our dreams and what pursuit we have in life. According to Ochoa, we must include at least two major contributions made in community service and what impact this had on the lives of others. “Scholarship committees want to know what you are doing with your time. Are you a single mom, working a full-time job, but if you did what would you be doing,” added Ochoa. “At the end of the day, scholarship committees are investing their dollars in your potential. Let’s get it done,” urged Ochoa.
If you missed today’s workshop, listen to a one-minute podcast interview we did with Ochoa on How to Win Scholarships over at Posterous.
David Molina is the Founder/CEO of BilingualHire. You can reach him at: +1-503-708-4614 or email him at: david@bilingualhireco.com.
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