Scholarships

Our kids did not apply for any local scholarships.  They both went through high school with straight A’s. They both scored high on their ACT tests. We are lucky and proud. They both received merit scholarships, and we started saving for college when they were born. Do they deserve academic scholarships? Sure. Many scholarships are based on need. We decided a long time ago, we didn’t want our kids to take a scholarship away from someone who needed it more. I’ve served on scholarship committees before. Do people lie and try to make their child look more deserving? Sure. I will never forget the father who was divorced and retired.  He retired from his job a millionaire.  He did not mention his ex wife’s salary. He put his occupation as being “unemployed “. His salary was 0. Being from a small town, we all knew his financial situation. Hey, you can’t blame a guy for trying…. needless to say, she did not get the scholarship.  I think it was for 500.00. A different kid got it.  My husband happens to be the principal at the high school. I was asked to be on the scholarship committee a couple of years by the librarian. I didn’t really want the responsibility of making those choices.  Yes, I knew some of those kids. Some I didn’t know. The names of the kids are blackened out, but I could figure many of them out based on other things- activities, occupations of parents, etc. There were several on each team. Not just my decision…thank goodness – too much pressure. 5 great applicants, but we have to narrow it down to 1. My husband was not about to put the teachers in a position where they might feel obligated to chose their boss’s kid. He did not want to give anyone the opportunity to say, “Well she got the scholarship because of who her dad is.” He didn’t want people comparing his salary to someone else’s.  I will be clapping for the kids who get the scholarships. I will not know who applied for what scholarship so I won’t be sad or angry for the ones who didn’t get it. There will be people who are sad, angry and financially burdened because a scholarship went to someone else’s kid. Maybe one or two kids will appear to get all the scholarships.  I will be happy for them. We chose to have kids, and we started saving for college.  I never expected or dreamed anyone would help us pay for college. My kids have done better and taken classes I can’t even imagine- AP History, AP Calculus,  AP Literature, etc. Some may scoff and say we were stupid to not apply for scholarships at the local level. Maybe, maybe not. It was our decision motivated by what we felt was the right thing to do….congratulations to all the graduates!