Teens and volunteering

Our community sustained heavy damage from a tornado last weekend, so on Monday I volunteered to help with some clean up. As I was working in a yard, a group of teenage boys came by to help. They were so pleasant and enthusiastic and got the job done in a hurry! Several of them commented that they wished they could be out of school for several more days, saying, "I'm learning a lot more with this than I ever do in school!"

It is these types of experiences that can be used to teach our teens the meaning of community and the value of service given for others with no thought of reward! These kids were seeing up close exactly what some of our citizens were going through and teaching them to be compassionate people. I know they went home that evening feeling that they had done something significant---they felt needed and useful.

These are the types of things all teens need. Keep on the lookout for community projects in which your teens can participate. Keep careful records of these things so that you can remember what they did and the people they served. These are the sorts of things that can go into scholarship applications a little later, and scholarship committees always like to see these types of activities from their applicants.

This is where my materials come in. The calendar portion of the notebook is the place where records of participation can be kept so that when the information is needed for scholarship application, it is easy to find and retrieve. Also, in my materials, I give lots of information on things kids can do to position themselves effectively for scholarship purposes. Don't get me wrong here, I would never encourage teens to do everything with the thought of scholarships later on, but rather to do these things in order to help others. The possible scholarships should be just an added benefit to what they have learned from being good citizens and decent human beings!

One other thing that may be beneficial with volunteer work is to give a young person something to put down on a future job application. Rather than leave a blank for previous employment, they could list significant volunteer work done. This would speak volumes to a future employer!

Big Scholarships vs Small Scholarships

When searching for scholarship money, you will discover that there are many sources for scholarships. The local scholarships that we found were generally smaller amounts of money (anywhere from $250 to $1,000) and were only good for one year. We thought this was very helpful in getting into a college, but then what to do for the other years of required education?

Small scholarships are relatively plentiful, but in working a strategy for college funding, it is best to search out some on-going scholarships. These are also available from many sources but are generally a little more difficult to find. Be sure to stay in touch with scholarship search engines like fastweb.com and check out any of the larger scholarships they link for you. One great place to find on-going scholarship money is from your college financial aid office. Be sure to ask them about academic scholarships that will continue throughout college (generally a specific grade point must be maintained). We found these to be the best scholarships overall! The school may also have other significant scholarships, so be sure to ask.

Whatever scholarships you find, be sure to think ahead to the following college years. Don't choose a college based on what you may receive your freshman year---you may not be able to afford the following years! Whatever you do, PLAN AHEAD!

Here's a quick idea when you make college visits:
If you are taking or planning on taking some courses at a local community college, there is always a concern that your hours may not transfer to the university you plan to attend. Next time you make a college visit, simply bring along a copy of your community college's catalog and ask the admissions office if hours from that school will transfer. It may save you many hours of worry and lots of dollars!
Be sure to check about those community college credits early on---it would be a waste of time and money to take a bunch of classes only to find that your hours won't transfer! Better to be safe than sorry!