In 2014, Taylor resident Amanda Hatch found herself at a crossroads in her life. Recently divorced, with three kids and very little money for anything extra, Hatch walked into Northland Pioneer College (NPC) to see if going back to college and pursuing her lifelong dream of becoming a nurse was even an option.
Now four years later, Hatch has not only become a licensed practical nurse; she is pursuing her Associate Degree in Nursing, which will prepare her to test for licensure as a registered nurse. To top it off, this summer Hatch was able to complete six credits at a Costa Rica university as part of a scholarship program that allows students to study abroad.
Hatch attributes her success to a passion for learning and a significant number of scholarships that have enabled her not only to pursue her dream, but also pursue it well.
“I started NPC in 2016 and I remember how impossible it felt that I would ever get a scholarship,” shared Hatch. Her first scholarship was the NPC Friends & Family (NPCFF) Fill the Gap scholarship which gave Hatch $500 toward her schooling.
Initially Hatch said she was uncomfortable with applying for scholarships but as she continued to work with NPCFF Executive Director Betsyann Wilson, the process got easier. “Betsyann has this great outline and I started putting together essays. I put out 200 scholarship applications. I figured that I would either start winning them or go back to an 80 hour work week,” said Hatch.
The tenacity paid off with Hatch receiving $25,000 in scholarships for this year. Not only did Hatch become a Jeannette Rankin Foundation scholar, which provides $1,000 per semester for the entirety of her college education, she also received the Coca-Cola Silver Scholarship and the scholarship for the Costa Rica study program.
Hatch shared the success she was having in winning scholarships with Wilson and said that she wanted to help her fellow NPC students learn to apply for scholarships as a volunteer project in her role as president of NPC’s chapter of Phi Theta Kappa, the community college’s international honor society.
Hatch asked Wilson if they might team-teach a scholarship workshop over the NPC distance-learning system, with Wilson providing the “how-to” and Hatch providing her perspectives as a successful scholarship awardee.
“I loved the idea,” said Wilson, “Because it strengthened the workshop exponentially to have students hear the testimony of one of their peers who has won multiple scholarships.”
“The first thing that scares students about scholarships is thinking they need to have 4.0 grade point average (GPA),” said Hatch, “but I have never seen a scholarship for 4.0 students.”
Both Hatch and Wilson agree that although a 4.0 is great and every student should strive for the best possible grade, most scholarships only require a 2.5 to 3.0 GPA, with some reaching to the 3.5 GPA mark.
The most challenging part of the scholarship application is learning the process, something that Hatch has broken down into her rule of threes: three essays; three references; three paragraphs; three times a year; and three people on your team.
The three essays are designed by word count of 350, 500 and 1,000 words. Breaking the essay down into three paragraphs, Hatch asks the questions: Who are you? Why should the people giving the scholarship care about you? And what will you do with their money?
Hatch said it is critical to make the first paragraph count. “In a scholarship committee you have a group of three to 12 people who have never met you and if you don’t grab them in the first couple of sentences, you won’t win.”
Hatch went on to describe the breakdown of the questions. “The first question is simply what makes a person tick; what are you passionate about and what do you believe in. The second one is about what you bring to others through leadership and volunteer opportunities. And the last one is just about an honest, complete answer as to how you plan to use the money.”
“I encourage students to get three people on their team to look at their essays,” said Hatch. “It should be someone who knows and loves you; who can remind you of things you have done and give suggestions. Then there needs to be someone who can edit and look for grammatical errors, and finally you need someone who is not afraid to make you cry. You need to know what your essay says and what needs to be changed.”
Hatch is the first to admit going to school and being a mom often leaves zero time for anything extra, which is why she sits down in the summer and writes her three essays. From there she begins to research the scholarships that she can apply for. The NPC website lists nearly 400 different scholarships that are available, including those from NPCFF.
When applying for scholarships Wilson emphasized, “No sob stories! You will not win a scholarship by appealing to the sympathy of the review committee. Remember everyone has had bad things happen to them. If you are trying to get people to feel sorry for you, you are choosing to be a victim and victims are not resourceful people. Survivors are resourceful people, and resourceful people are a good investment for a scholarship committee. They are more likely to finish what they’ve set out to do academically. It’s totally fine to tell about challenges you have overcome if they are relevant to your education and career story.”
Many scholarships require letters of reference. Wilson advises that students ask their references to write the letters as soon as they know they are applying for the scholarship and keep after them until the letter is in hand. “People often mean well and sincerely want to help, but they get sidetracked. Don’t write an outstanding essay and application and then miss the deadline because your references didn’t come through for you,” shared Wilson.
“Look at the scholarship application process as a part-time job,” concluded Wilson. “It is time-consuming, but the results are worth it. You will get denied, but if you are persistent, you will receive scholarships. If you spend four hours finding a scholarship, writing an essay and applying and you are awarded $1,000, you just earned $250 an hour. That’s a great return on your investment.”
“Every student needs to know everything you want to accomplish is possible,” ended Hatch. “NPC is not just a community college, it is a family. I want other people to win, I am not the cool kid or the genius in the room but I have had so much support and that has made the difference. Call NPC and talk with them. They worked with me for nearly two years before I started.”
For more information on scholarships, visit www.npc.edu/scholarships. For assistance with developing and editing a scholarship essay, contact Betsyann Wilson at betsy.wilson@npc.edu.
