June 2018

Scholarship Season!

The Cadillac Area Community Foundation received over 65 Scholarship applications this past spring, and awarded over $37,000 in scholarships with the help of our Scholarship Committees.

Those applications were from students interested in studying in all areas; and they applied for Scholarship Programs which specialized in General Education, Graduate Studies, Elementary Education, Civil and Environmental Engineering, and Performing Arts.  Scholarship requirements varied and covered everything from educational achievements, income levels, civic involvement, extra-curricular participation, community volunteerism, overcoming adversity, and even good citizenship.

Individual Scholarship Committees met to discuss each eligible student for the particular Scholarship Program.  They read applications and, most importantly, the required essay that accompanied the application.  The essays are a chance for the Committee Members to meet the students through their words and develop an idea of each students’ unique character beyond their GPA.  Personal growth, leadership, extra-curricular and/or academic are all factors to be considered in the Scholarship award decisions.  This is not an easy task for the Committee.

Scholarship Committees are vital to the process, and they have to make difficult choices.  They do not know whose application they are reviewing, it is an anonymous process.  They only have the information presented to them in the application and essay to base their decisions.  A grade point average is important to help determine the potential for success in college, but an essay can tell a very personal story of the applicant.  It is up to the Committee to consider the nuances of that story, in combination with the written application and transcript of grades, and determine the students that best fit the criteria of each Scholarship Program.

The Cadillac Area Community Foundation would like to thank all of the Scholarship Committee members who generously donated so much of their time to participate in this process to determine which of those students will help to define the future of our community!

 

Best Regards,

Doreen