Scholarships

I've never applied for a scholarship before. If I did, I probably would have saved a lot of money on my student loans... Anyways, I decided to apply for a few scholarships sponsored by the study abroad program I'm going to Italy with. All I really had to do was fill out a one-page application and write a 250-word essay with the following criteria:

• How I would benefit from the study abroad program?
• What impact would the scholarship have on my study abroad plans?
• How my presence in the program would enhance the program environment?
• How I plan to finance the trip?

Of course, the essay was the hardest part. Basically, I had to write an essay acknowledging each of the four criteria they gave me, within 250 words, expressing my need and desire for funding while staying eloquent and dignified.  The following is what I came up with after 2-3 days of working on it.
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There comes a time in our lives when we realize our responsibility for the world we live in. We come to acknowledge the potential we have to improve society for ourselves and our posterity. From this, a desire is born to learn from a world larger than ourselves and have an proactive influence upon it. From my studies, I hope to learn from the new ideologies, people, and challenges I will encounter. Being a non-native English speaker, I hope to provide a unique perspective that my peers can benefit from. Ultimately, I look forward to embracing the cultural disparities I encounter and hold myself accountable to a world different, but united through a human commonality. I hope to learn, share, and befriend those I come across regardless of physical and political borders.
    During my stay at JFRC for the 2012 Spring semester, my expenses (i.e., tuition, room and board, fees, etc.) will be afforded by money I will have raised working a part-time job during the semester preceding my expected departure, a private student loan, and a monetary amount my mother (my only income-earning parent) can contribute. This scholarship would provide me the opportunity to see more of the world (and greater community), in which I wish to be more of an active participant. This scholarship would prove to me that there are people who share and support the same philosophy as I do in improving society through knowledge and its dissemination through education and social interaction.