Sunday, July 5, 2009

Whover Said Applying for Scholarships Was Easy Was So Wrong

I recently was accepted into Scuola Lorenzo de'Medici in Florence, Italy. I will be studying the Italian language and taking two courses - Travel Writing and The Age of the Heroes: Iliad, Odyssey, Aeneid, and the Origin of Western Literature. I'm really excited for my classes and to be back in Italy. Since I will not be living on campus at my current university in Wisconsin, I have lost almost half the financial aid I normally get. I am not someone who comes from a background of a lot of money, nor do my parents pay for my schooling. I am a scholarship student and I only usually take out two loans totaling only $7,000 a year. I do not have a job as the economy sucks and its even worse for college students. Jobs are available, but no one wants to hire a college student for only two months when they can hire an unemployed mother/father who has mouths to feed and bills to pay. Don't get me wrong, I think those people deserve a job more than I do, however it would be nice for someone to hire me, even if it is just a few hours a day. Today I have been online searching for scholarships since 2pm. It is now 5pm. I have found nothing. No scholarships from my school, no scholarships for English majors studying abroad, no grants. Where is all this money that is available? I'm starting to get very angry and very annoyed. I have two weeks to come up with $650 for a deposit and two months to come up with $15,000 for tuition, not to mention at least $5-6,000 for misc. expenses. I'm becoming worried that my dream of studying abroad is about to slip right through my fingers.

2 comments:

  1. Humanities scholarships are almost non-existent in the UK. It's so difficult tracking down any funding for English/Creative Writing at postgraduate study level. Anyway, all the best with your search (keep looking and don't give up until you've exhausted all avenues). I hope you manage to clinch your dream :)

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  2. Thank you CathM! I have been searching and searching, but still have come up with nothing. I am very stubborn though and for once my stubbornness just might help me!

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