What does the Hixson award mean to me?

To me, the Hixson Opportunity Award at Iowa State University means:

I believe it is truly amazing that one woman, with a passion for helping today's youth, could so willingly reach out and relieve 100 different students, at Iowa State, EVERY YEAR of a huge financial burden. Because of Christina Hixson's belief of putting our past behind us and improving on the opportunities of the future, all Hixson's have the fundamental backbone to support our education. Knowing that there is someone out there, who never knew me before, has faith in me to succeed as a learner, really gives me a drive to push myself to grow.

Scholarships

Scholarships... Where do I even start. First off, they are ESSENTIAL to apply for if you are paying for your education and taking it seriously. There are people, organizations and companies out there that are willing to invest in YOU!

My senior year of high school, I filled out my first scholarship application in December. That started the trend of me applying for more than 25 scholarships from December to August. I did not receive all of the scholarships I applied for. I didn't even receive half of the scholarships I applied for. I got to the point where there was one week that I got two letters in the mail saying I was not the right applicant. I was denied the opportunity I had put an effort towards. But all it takes is that one letter saying they want an interview or that you have received their scholarship to get your hopes up and see a more exciting future.

I have been told that the scholarship process continues, even as you continue into college. Just looking at the Iowa State University scholarship webpage,

this is what I see: . That means there are 806 OPPORTUNITIES for me to fund my education! Even if half of these, or a quarter, or even a TENTH of these apply to me, that is a LOT of cash available for my education! From my experience I have found out that once you have applied for several scholarships, it is easier to apply for more. If you save all of your completed applications, all you have to do for a lot of scholarships is 'copy' and 'paste'.

The way I see it, it takes you four hours to fill out a scholarship application and write an essay. It takes you a little bit of efforts and communication to ask around and get two letters of recommendation. It takes walking to the mailbox to put a letter in it and put the flag up. All in all, it could take five hours to fill out a scholarship application. Let's say this scholarship is worth $1000 dollars towards furthering your education. If you are chosen to receive this scholarship, you just made approximately $200 dollars an hour just for filling it out. That's one big chunk of payback for five hours!

The number one reason a person does not receive a scholarship is because he/she does not apply for one! There are hundreds of scholarships out there that no one applies for on a year to year basis. If you apply, YOU could be the one receiving the scholarship and award that will motivate, encourage and support YOU furthering YOUR education! Fill out a scholarship application TODAY!