Many parents are frustrated when their high school senior lacks motivation or avoids applying for scholarships. Some conclude their kid is “entitled” or is “lazy”, creating a tension, where parents question their kid’s commitment to college.
For adults, applying for scholarships is a no-brainer, as gift money that does not need to be repaid. As college costs are rising and financial security after college graduation isn’t certain, many parents believe scholarships not only subsidize today’s costs, but are a rainy-day fund for “someday.”
Adults frequently understand money as: tradeoffs, delayed gratification, security, opportunity, sometimes stress. So, many parents are trying to teach their children the rewards of labor, planning, and financial decisions as preparation for adulthood.
Many high school seniors, however, do not yet have the same understanding of money as earned from exchanged effort. They remember: tournament trips, music lessons, club fees, the fruits of shopping, fun vacations, or new technology devices.
So, although many seniors intend to apply for scholarships, some are encountering a responsibility they haven’t gradually prepared to fulfill. Plus, some can’t process worries about taking resources from younger siblings. For others, confronting college costs means confronting adulthood, an uncomfortable reality. So, many teens avoid applying for scholarships.
And by spring senior year, when scholarship applications are due, many students are already exhausted from the self-discovery process to write autobiographical essays, questioning their identity and their futures, as well as navigating social comparisons.
So, scholarships, then, are not simply completing forms by stated deadlines. The students who complete scholarship applications have often engaged in family conversations that started long before senior year. So, over time, students learned how resources, choices, and long-term planning connect to the lives they hope to build.
Creative Marbles was founded by teachers who appreciate helping students craft insightful essays, first in the academic classroom, now as part of the complex college admissions process. For more information, please contact us
