PAC Student Media

By M. Victoria Moreno
Pulse staff reporter

Free money is flying out the window every semester, and students are just passing it by, missing out on multiple scholarship opportunities.

Plenty of resources are available for students paying their way through college, whether from local scholarships for $200 to global corporate scholarships offering $20,000 and more.

In the 2016-2017 school year, less than 10 percent of Alamo Colleges students applied for scholarships, and 60 percent of the students who applied were awarded money, said Leticia Inocencio, senior coordinator, Alumni & Scholarships.

“Students often don’t apply because they think they won’t get any money,” Inocencio said.

Students need to apply for more scholarships and not be afraid. One large struggle is finding a place to start, admits Inocencio.

The Alamo Colleges Foundation Scholarship is a good place to begin. The Foundation Scholarship is a single application that will match the student to all scholarships they are eligible for throughout the district. The Foundation Scholarship connects students to more than 300 scholarships offered throughout the district.

The Foundation Scholarship does require a written essay, but this shouldn’t discourage students from applying. In the Gutierrez Building Room 102, students go to the Writing Lab to receive help formatting and editing their essays.

“We work with students to help develop their ideas in a professional manner,” said Antonio Garza, who works in the lab.

The Writing Lab is very familiar with the Foundation Scholarship and its essay questions.

“The questions have pretty much stayed the same for the past few years,” said Garza.

The Gutierrez Writing Lab is open Mondays through Thursdays, 8 a.m. to 6 p.m., and Fridays, 8 a.m. to 3 p.m.

Currently the application for the Foundation Scholarship is closed for the 2016-2017 school year; however, the application will reopen on January 9 for the Fall 2017 and Spring 2018 semesters. http://www.alamo.edu/foundation/scholarships/

Scholarship opportunities are available year round.

“It’s all in your student email, and people hardly ever check it!” said Bianca Garcia, a current Palo Alto sophomore. Garcia is always applying for new scholarships to help her complete her educational journey.

PAC does a good job keeping students updated on the latest events happening on campus, as well as approaching deadlines for graduation, enrollment, and yes, even scholarship deadlines.  

Some scholarships are fun and easy to apply for, like the Zombie Apocalypse Scholarship, where students are asked to write an essay and convince judges that they could indeed survive a Zombie apocalypse. The winning student is awarded $2,000 and the deadline for this scholarship is Oct. 31, 2017.

The same site also holds a Flavor of the Month Scholarship, which asks students what flavor of ice cream they are and why. The goal of the essay is self discovery in a fun and creative way through ice cream. Students must state what flavor of ice cream they would be and why they are most like this flavor. The winning student receives $1,500. This application is open until July 31, 2017.

An endless amount of scholarships are available for all levels of students. Once you find a scholarship that interest you, apply. You could wind up with free money you didn’t have before. For more scholarships, visit https://www.unigo.com/scholarships/weird/weird-scholarships.