Spring into the Season of Scholarships
by Jade Francis
It is officially scholarship season at Cape Cod Community College (4Cs), as the gates to send out one’s application(s) opened on February 19th. The application deadline is March 12, so it is crucial to act fast. Kathy McNamara, the Executive Director of the Educational Foundation at 4Cs, encourages all students to apply for scholarships. She emphasizes that there are scholarship opportunities for every student within the collective body; complete the aphoristic questionnaire to reap the categories that are applicable to one’s pursuits and identity. “This year we have $300,000 available,” said McNamara. That’s $50,000 more than last year. So, people are crazy not to try to apply. It’s well worth the effort.”
Image: courtesy of the CCCC Scholarship Foundation
To apply for scholarships, students need to visit ccccfoundation.org, which is the link where one is set to submit all applications to ultimately receive a digital receipt. At the top of the accessed page, click on the ‘scholarships’ tab, which needs to be followed by choosing ‘apply for scholarships.’ This step yields three categories on the page with the labels of non-commencement, commencement, and project forward. The non-commencement category suits students who are returning to campus or are completely novel to the 4Cs community. The penultimate category, commencement scholarships, is designed for students who are transferring to another institution in the fall; project forward is a special program for students with learning disabilities. Once one selects a group of scholarships according to the design of one’s academic future, the questionnaire needs to be edited to contain vital information to prove one’s eligibility. There may be an additional page attached to certain scholarships with requests for an essay and/or financial information.
“It’s worth it to try,” said McNamara, “but I think some people are intimidated; they just think scholarships are for the top students, and that’s not the case.” She wants all students to
respect their differentiation in academics and ignore any doubts of being a recipient. “This doesn’t guarantee you’re going to get it,” said McNamara, “but we really want to award this money, that is our goal. We want people to get these scholarships.”
Contact in the month of May between applicants and the 4Cs Scholarship Foundation is the instance when these financial declarations are to be made. In the past, the ceremonies had been held in the Tilden Arts Center to bestow the awards to certain applicants, but COVID-19 has forced the community to celebrate this in a different way. Last year, students who had earned scholarships received praise in the Cape Cod Times. The form of this celebration has not been determined for this year.
McNamara underscores the excellent benefit of scholarships to save money on college expenses. “It doesn’t take long to fill out an application so it’s really worth it for people to set aside an hour at the most and get it done.” Visit ccccfoundation.org and do not forestall the chance to potentially receive a financial award for all that has been and shall be accomplished.
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