Scholarship Searching

I saw one of my cousins over the weekend and we were talking about how it's officially the most wonderful/stressful time of the year for her and her friends - yes, it's college acceptance (or rejection) time. Luckily for her, she's already gotten into two really good schools and is just waiting to hear from a few more that she applied to, so she's happy. She told me that some of her friends are still going nuts waiting for those envelopes to show up in the mail.

Of course, then we got to talking about the absolute most fun part of the college experience...paying for it! She knows that like most people her age, she's going to need a student loan or two or three or four to help her afford the education that she wants, so she's already looking into her options. I told her to just get used to the idea that Sallie Mae is going to be her BFF for quite a few years after she graduates, but she'll have plenty of repayment options to choose from to make it easier for her to manage.

And since she is such a smart cookie, I also encouraged her to keep up her scholarship search and not just settle for whatever scholarship money is offered to her by her top choice schools. There are so many different scholarships out there that no matter who you are or where you come from or what your talents happen to be, there's probably something to suit you.

I told her some stories about some of the wacky scholarships that I remembered finding when I searched (write a poem about your favorite vegetable contest, anyone?) and she said she'd definitely keep up her search and try to top me. I know she has a bright future ahead of her, and I'm glad that I'm able to give her some helpful advice. Even if I secretly know that she could never write a better vegetable poem than my amazing broccoli haiku. I was totally robbed of that scholarship.