I’m guessing that most, if not all, high schools and some colleges give out awards and scholarships in memory of a student or teacher or administrator. (Our high school gives out so many that it makes it seem like going there is hazardous to your health!)
So…if there were to be an award named after you, (or you could do it for someone else in your family) - what would you want the criteria to be?
My family had fun with this one the other night (it’s not meant to be morbid, but rather a look into what you would want to reward a student for), and I thought it would be interesting to see what others would come up with.
For example - for my husband, I would recognize a student from his high school that has aspirations to go to college and then relocate elsewhere. My husband is from a very rural area where they have to bus kids from all over just to get critical mass for a high school and there aren’t a lot of resources or ECs at the school (ie he had no AP classes, there’s no football team, etc.). Despite the limited opportunities in the area, students aren’t encouraged to look for jobs outside the area. We were one of only a handful of people that came from out of state to the reunion (which had like 90% attendance - one of the perks of having everyone still living nearby). He was awarded “most successful” because he graduated from college. He didn’t have the heart to tell anyone he’d also earned a masters degree, as he was afraid it would be viewed as bragging.
My daughter said she’d want to recognize a student that does well academically, but spends a significant amount of time in activities outside of school. One of them must be having a job. She’s held a job since she was 15, and that’s not something many other top students at her school do. (The school is extremely diverse with regards to SES). She joked that she’d call it the “Sunshine Award” since the school has an association with some trees, and she joked that the award would go to a student who got out from under the shade of the trees at school.
First gen students from my high school. I would love to do full tuition and a paid tutor for two students. They must get accepted. I would lean toward UMiami but any four year university. They would be required to come back and speak to other high school students and when they graduated, could be on the selection committee. I would like it to be similar to the Hammond Scholarship, since I knew Mr. Hammond and was positively impacted by his dedication to students at UMiami,. I would name it after my parents/maiden name.
Siblings of kids with significant mental or physical disabilities. I would name it after my daughter who is in that category. Most people tend to forget that the siblings suffer, also.
Individuals with or who have siblings or parents with rheumatological, autoimmune diseases- special preference given to those who come from “challenging” backgrounds including low SES, first gen, etc.
Out of curiosity one day, I looked up scholarships for people with lupus, RA, or similar diseases. Virtually nothing. A ton for cancer and people related to individuals with cancer, as well as a handful of other things, but nada for this.
I might fund one for students adopted as infants in closed adoptions. People consider them “lucky” and “blessed” but it’s a much harder life than most people realize.
If I were to inherit a ton of money or hit the lottery, I might endow a scholarship for students from my state who meet the following requirements:
Are awarded our state scholarship - my scholarship would essentially match it.
Are from families with an AGI of $60,000.00 to maybe $100,000.00 per year - people who don’t get need-based aid and can’t afford full pay.
Are planning to major in the liberal arts, humanities or education - no STEM!
Have at lest one parent with a four-year college degree. First gens get plenty of help in our area; they don’t need mine.
Are attending any in-state public or private college, except our state flagship. It’s a notorious party school and safety school to the nation, full of OOSers who can’t cut it at their own state institutions and I want my beneficiaries doing something besides drinking and burning couches.
We were involved in a couple of scholarships in the last 7 years or so…one was thru a business association we were part of. We cut our ties with them 2 years ago because we just weren’t on the same page and the nepotism was just horrible . Our direct efforts yielded approximately $75G for the community , but they pretty much screwed our daughter and a young man who worked for us , and volunteered more hours than any other student awarded scholarships …
Then we had one for our employees that was really just random. We haven’t done it in the last few years because it was in the in the name of a dear man who worked for us and died unexpectedly…it fizzled out when the people that worked for us didn’t know him and had no personal connection to him
I have always wanted to give out scholarships that were based on merit in terms of community envolvement and volunteerism …without there being a financial element or essay. High school seniors have enough essays to deal with IMO
Kids whose parent/parents were serving in a war zone and killed or injured. The student could be just completely average, even below average scholastically, though certainly they would have to have financial need.
My award would be to the three (or more)
sport varsity athlete – who maybe didn’t have a whole lot of time to do a bunch of other ECs – with the best mix of academic rigor and GPA.
" My award would be to the three (or more)
sport varsity athlete – who maybe didn’t have a whole lot of time to do a bunch of other ECs – with the best mix of academic rigor and GPA. "
No offense prezbucky , but that criteria completely dominated award / scholarship nights at our local high school while many other talented students were completely overlooked
There is an engineering scholarship at Ohio State in honor of my grandfather, so that’s good.
For me, I’d like to endow a full scholarship for a woman student from Tanzania who wanted to come to the US to study engineering (any area) or science or math or computer science.
From my experience applying for scholarships this year, there are very few purely based on merit. Most have some other requirements that water down the applicant pool. I think if I were to sponsor a scholarship it would be merit-based and open to all applicants, not earmarked for someone specific. The criteria should be academic achievement and moral character (LORs required).
My roommate gave a better answer than me so I’m sharing it:
One that would go to kids who had been in juvey for a non-violent crime and have successfully completed their high school or GED either in or out of juvey. Specifically, the criteria would be that this would be a full ride to a college outside of driving distance from their home community because it’s when kids go back home that they screw up again (at least that’s his experience from working at a juvey).
My award would be for a highly intellectual and independent-minded student of the humanities–not STEM-- who was neither a grade grubber nor a brown noser.
