Cash for College – Applications Due in February!

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Cash for College – Applications Due in February

If you are a high school student (Junior or Senior), it’s in your best interest to get your money for school search started. I’ve come up with my top picks with February 2018 deadlines.

But first, I want to share a few tips on getting yourself organized and prepared, so you can maximize your potential for success!  Three recommendations for you include (1) Identify your strengths and weaknesses; (2) Getting Organized; and (3) Gathering your information.  Get these few things right and you’re on the way to success in securing FREE Cash for College.

Identify Your Strengths & Weaknesses

If you have not done so already, please begin thinking about your long-term goal, which is to determine what field you would like to work within. What are you good at? What do others ask you to help them with? Ask your parents what you liked to do naturally as a child.

Asking yourself just a few questions will help you decide on a career path, but that’s just the beginning. You must also find out what is needed to enter the field.  Which classes to take in high school that will prepare you for college, how many degrees do you need from college (bachelor, master or Ph.D.), etc?

For example, if you loved all animals as a small child, you could be a great veterinarian. However, if you have failed science at all on any level, this may not be possible because of few, if any colleges or universities will accept your high school transcripts as a Vet student (you need high grades in biology and chemistry)!

This is why it makes sense to start thinking of career paths beginning in middle school rather than in high school. No worries here – some people go to college as “Undecided” on a major. Do NOT allow your inability to choose a major stop you from applying and attending college. The experience alone is life-changing.

Getting Organized

Today’s students are acquainted with tablets and computers, and you will need absolutely need one or the other to be successful. Even the lack thereof, however, should NOT stop you from continuing on in your education.

Most schools have computer labs everywhere. Not having modern technology is no excuse, but if you need to start shopping, Amazon is a great place to start. Whether you prefer the MAC, Dell, HP, or other IBM Clone, deep discounts are on the Internet.

What I am finding a problem regardless of your choice of computers/tablets is that it is not a good idea to store your important documents and papers there. Please do yourself a favor and purchase what we call “External Storage!”

These nifty devices come in all shapes sizes and colors, but they do a good job of keeping your computer free from the “you are running out of disc space “ error message on your computer. The last thing you want is to be just about finished a composition or term paper and your computer crashes! Click here to check out what’s available on Amazon.

Gathering Your Information (Due Diligence)

Make friends with teachers, guidance counselors and/or administers who might write letters of recommendation for you. Almost every scholarship opportunity will require this, and most colleges/universities you’re applying to will as well.

If you’re the type of student who alienates teachers and authoritative adults in your life. Now is a good time to change that behavior.  It might be that the same teacher you have given a hard time in the classroom is needed for a recommendation letter or a review.  If college is in your view, making fun of teachers and those trying to move you to the next level needs to stop.  Otherwise, you may not get your needs met when completing college entrance and scholarship applications.

Get organized! A good planner is one that will include lots of space for note-taking. Be sure that there’s enough space on each date to include lots of “written” information. iPhones are cool, but will NOT make this process easier.

I can’t stress this enough for you to get an awesome 2018 Planner now!  Believe me, they are NOT all created equal. Make sure there is enough space to write legible notes so you remember not only dates but details.

You’ll need something fancy to write with, so a good and smooth writing ink pen will motivate you to write longhand even if you have a computer available.  Amazon has a ton of them, so start your search there.  It’s safe secure online shopping.

I like Amazon because you have so many options from which to choose and it doesn’t matter your budget.

Top 10 College Money Sources with Applications Due in February

Now that you have a foundation for completing your scholarship application(s), here are 10 due NOW! Get going on getting FREE Cash for College. Remember, you can reach out to me with any questions in the comments section below. I would love to hear from you.

Congratulations on your decision to attend college and good luck on securing some FREE money (in order of due date) …

1. February 1, 2018: Harriet Fitzgerald Scholarship for Women ($10,000) APPLY HERE for $10,000

2. February 1, 2018: BMI Student Composer Awards ($20,000 – For Young Composers of Classical Music) APPLY HERE for $20,000

3. February 3, 2018: American Association of Blacks in Energy Scholarship ($5,000 – For African-American’s, Hispanics and Native Americans) APPLY HERE for $5,000

4. February 4, 2018: Army ROTC Four Year High School Scholarship (Amou Varies) APPLY HERE for (Amount Varies)

5.   February 8, 2018:  Corvias Foundation Scholarship for Children of Active-Duty Service Members ($50,000)  APPLY HERE for $50,000

6. February 15, 2018: AWS Edward J. Brady Memorial Scholarship ($10,000 – For Welding Engineers) APPLY HERE for $10,000

7. February 19, 2018: Fukunaga Scholarship Foundation ($16,000 – For Hawaiian students pursuing degrees in Business Administration) APPLY HERE for $16,000

8. February 20, 2018: Brawerman Fellowship ($40,000 – For High School Students from California who will attend a4-year college or university) APPLY HERE for $40,000

9. February 25, 2018: Growing Pains High School Video Competition ($3,000 – For Student Movie Makers) Contact: Scholarship Committee, 3588 Bryan Avenue, Irvine, CA 92602 (310) 293.8035 info@socalsff.com

10.  February 26, 2018: South Carolina Federal Credit Union Scholarship ($10,000 – For South Carolina Students) APPLY HERE for $10,000

Keep in Touch

Patrina S Reddick, MSW Urban Academics Creator

There are more scholarship opportunities where these came from, many of which go unused simply because students don’t know where to look.  Due dates vary (based on scholarship donor) throughout the year.  Subscribe to Urban Academics Blog to make sure you don’t miss one.  We’re serving what you need academically in the urban environment.  If you have scholarship information, please share in the comments section below along with any other comments or questions.

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Patina Reddick, MSW                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                         contact@urban-academics.com

Welcome to Urban Academics

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Welcome

Welcome to Urban Academics, your one stop shop for all things urban as it relates to educating inner-city kids.  Urban kids come in all shapes sizes and colors, and each child is an individual.  However, the cookie cutter approach to working with this population must stop, but how?

Here you will find the best information, knowledge and cutting-edge resources for your entire family, as we know life is a continuous cycle of learning.  At the point at which we stop learning, everything else will follow.

 

Taking Responsibility for Educating of Our Kids

My name is Patrina S Reddick, and I’ve been working on the front lines with children and families in some capacity for most of my life. While I am a masters level social worker by degree, my career path started in my local church, then expanding to the larger community.

I’ve worked in a number of different roles over the years, but I’ll tell you what frustrates me more today than anything else, which is also the driving force behind Urban Academics.

It saddens me – the number of young people who graduate high school without the necessary skills to compete in the world. Things are changing so rapidly that it will only get worse before it can get better. In today’s business sector, a General Equivalency Degree (GED) is worth more than a high school diploma.

How can you say that Ms. Patrina? Well, at least we know that you can read, count, and follow directions, which is NOT true for more than 60% of the inner city youth walking across the stage to receive diplomas next spring.

Parents should at the very least, check homework nightly and communicate with teachers at least once weekly.  This small intervention will make a world of difference in your child’s academic experience.  Just finding out what method of communication your child’s teacher likes will indicate that your child has a concerned parent who wants to be on the same page.

Parents are their children’s first teachers.  If parents are absent, caring, considerate, ignorant, impolite, important, late, loving, neglectful, petty, prompt, respectful, smart, or talented their child is more likely to any or all those things.  There are, however, occasions where children make decisions to be the exact opposite of parents as well.

 

Taking Ownership of Negative Behaviors

In practice, teachers and I converse daily with students who just happen to live in urban inner cities across the country.  There’s a push to do better, but without an increase in parental involvement, I don’t know how much we can do.

Parenting is different than it was in times past when we fought for education and the right to guess what? Read, libraries, restaurant, and public restrooms.  In many cases, I’ve seen parents respond faster to a teacher taking a cell phone than the phone call about negative behaviors expressed in a classroom of learning.

Have we become so comfortable with our things (outside) that we forfeit the fruits (inside)?  I don’t pretend to have all the answers, but I’m willing to start a dialogue with you – If you are here, please become an active part of these issues faced every day in our schools.

Little learning can go on if we’re always dealing with behavior.  I believe in my heart that parents need to be more accountable to their children’s schools.  It’s not enough to take kids from parents who can’t afford certain things.  Some students who have the least learn the most – simply because they want to.

Disrespecting teachers and administrators on any level is inappropriate and parents need to be held accountable for the actions of our children.  How else will this stop?  If you have ideas, please leave them in the comments section below.  I would love to hear your thoughts.

Becoming Partners with Teachers & Administrators

Parents must become an active participant in their child’s success in school and also learn to partner with teachers.  Put short – A house divided against itself cannot stand!  Why send your child somewhere just so they’re gone?  There will be little success if any, if there’s no collaboration, with the child in the driver’s seat.

If as a parent, we don’t take time to listen to our children with “parenting” ears, it will be difficult to see them through “parenting” eyes.  What I mean by this is the fact that there are far too many parents these who want nothing more than to be “friends” with their kids – QUIT THAT!

You were not chosen by God to be your child’s friend.  There will time for that later in life after they’ve gotten their education.  It is our responsibility to raise our children that they become active and progressive citizens of the world and able to take care of themselves through work or business.

Tip:  Get yourself a professional planner, write down your child’s schedule and plan around which events you must attend and those that are optional.  Your phone will not satisfy this requirement – you need something in your hand that you can both see and touch – at a glance.

 

Becoming a Village Once Again

Schools all over the world must subscribe to the “village” philosophy, because in a nutshell that’s what it is.  There are many teachers, administrators, clerical folks, maintenance people all working to get the job of running a safe and productive school environment for our children.

The village philosophy, however, that I’m speaking of has little to do with bodies and more to do with concern.  For example, if you have 50 people around but only 5 of them care, there’s not enough to go around.

I advocate regularly and sit in meetings that would make you cry.  My recommendation for parents is to make appointments with school administrators (principals or guidance counselors).  The purpose of this meeting is to formally introduce yourself as a concerned and loving parent who wants to partner with he/she and the school to make sure your child is successful academically.

Not every parent will do this, but those that do have a better chance at getting concerned teachers and administrators to look out for your child.  I believe in the village philosophy so much, my son & I founded an organization called People Involved in Motivating Our Students Higher (PIMOSH.net). To support this effort, CLICK HERE!

 

Keep in Touch – Subscribe to my Blog

Again, welcome to Urban Academics!  Please keep in touch by subscribing to this blog.  I promise to keep it fresh interesting and entertaining too!  All we need now is you.

If you have concerns, questions or want to contribute to this article, feel free to leave your thoughts in the comment section below.

 

Patrina Reddick, MSW,

Executive Director

Urban Academics