How Student Scholarships Can Help Parents
A scholarship is an award or financial aid or grant given to a student to recognize exceptional merit or financially help students from economically weak households. Scholarships are offered for reasons beyond academic excellence. There are many categories of scholarships available for deserving students.
However, only a minuscule percentage of students can avail of them. Don’t let this fact discourage you from applying for a scholarship for your child. The advantages of getting a scholarship are innumerable, making the process of application worthy of your time and efforts.
The following points describe what scholarships are all about, who can avail of scholarships, the benefits, and how to get scholarships.
- Scholarship vs financial aid: Scholarships are not financial aid, a name given for loans that have to be repaid with interest. Financial assistance or loan takes into consideration the monetary worth of your family. Some of the student scholarships aim to help the economically weaker sections, but most of them don’t. Scholarships don’t have any set conditions for eligibility. Those who fund the scholarships or start them determine the criteria for scholarships. The most significant advantage of a scholarship is that they provide financial help that you don’t have to repay.
- Do or die attitude: Parents should have an all or nothing attitude when they want their child to apply for scholarships. Unless you are going to make scholarship your top priority, you won’t be able to guide your child to go through the rigorous hard work that it entails. Education is getting more and more expensive! Motivate yourselves and your child to single-mindedly pursue scholarships. Maybe this quote should be their mantra, “Going after scholarships is living a few years of your life like most students won’t, so that you can live the rest of your life like most students can’t…with no or very few student loans.” — Gabrielle McCormick.
- When to apply: The sooner you apply for the scholarship, the better. Scholarships are available to students from kindergarten. Many international schools offer scholarships to students from nursery to grade 12.
- Some categories of scholarships: International schools like GIIS Tokyo offer different types of scholarships like-
– Sadako Ogata Merit cum Means Scholarship based on the financial condition of the family.
– Hideki Yukawa Global Skills Scholarship that recognises young talents in the digital space and encourages them to succeed.
– Global FUTURE-READY Merit Scholarship (GFRM) that provides unique learning experiences that will help the student become a global citizen.
Benefits of scholarships
These scholarships are given to students based on terms and conditions set by the school.
- Recognition and self-confidence: “Originality is the essence of true scholarship. Creativity is the soul of the true scholar.”- Nnamdi Azikiwe. Your child gets recognition for the talent and hard work, which encourages and motivates them to pursue higher goals.
- University placement: Many reputed universities prefer to admit students who are recognised for their accomplishments. The scholarship has endorsed that your child will be an asset to their college.
- Placement: There will be thousands of applicants for a job. It is tough to distinguish oneself from others. Scholarship shows that the recipient is a hard worker, helps the resume stand out and may give an edge in getting an interview.
- Lower dropout rate: Scholarship motivates your child to work hard and not contemplate dropping out. It encourages the student to pursue higher studies.
- Stress-free: It takes away the stress that comes from financial worries. You can focus on supporting and helping your child wholeheartedly.
- A dream come true: “Never give up on what you want to do. The person with big dreams is more powerful than one with all the facts.” — Albert Einstein. You need not curb your child from dreaming big because you know that there are resources available to fulfil them by helping them get where they want to go. Scholarships can help your child’s dream come true irrespective of your financial position.
- Philanthropy: As scholarship does not expect anything in return, your child will want to give back to society and develop into a philanthropist. To quote Mahatma Gandhi, “All your scholarship, all your study of Shakespeare and Wordsworth would be in vain, if at the same time you do not build your character, and attain mastery over your thoughts and actions.”
- Global citizens: Many scholarships offered by international schools open the doors to students’ unique learning experience. Your child can meet and interact with students and faculty from various nationalities, learn about other cultures, question existing beliefs while accepting and appreciating this multi-diverse universe. It will enable a global perspective.
As you can see, there are numerous advantages of scholarships for students. The wealth received from scholarship goes beyond monetary benefits. As they tap your child’s potential and alchemy takes place, no one can snatch away the benefits that your child will get!