Thanks from Online Student Scholarship Winners

A few years ago I started a scholarship fund at Lake Superior College for students who are pursuing an online degree program or at least completing most of their courses via online delivery. Back then I was struck by the irony (or maybe sadness?) while attending the student awards banquet that none of the scholarships were going to online students. That just didn't seem right considering that about 15% of our enrollment was for online courses, but none of the financial support was being given to online students. They were clearly a hidden population. Now the online enrollments make up over 25% of our total enrollment, but I am happy to report that for the past several years we have honored online students on scholarship night. (CC photo by stuartpilbrow)

This year there were three online scholarship winners. Today I received thank you cards from each of them. They want to communicate with all the people who made their awards possible, so I will post their words here in an effort to let people know how appreciative they are.

#1: " Just a short note of thanks for selecting me to receive your scholarship through my education at LSC. I am currently seeking my dgeree in accounting to be able to hopefully upgrade my position with the State of Minnesota. I also am raising my 3 children, so any type of help such as this is greatly appreciated. Thanks, again."

#2: "Thank you very much for choosing me for the Virtual Campus Scholarship. I filled out 11 applications and I am pleased to have received one! I've been struggling to get my foot in the door to college for many years now, and now that I started classes I realized I enjoy college. When I try hard in classes I surprise myself because I never thought I could do that well. Thanks for helping me achieve my goals and believing in me. :)"

#3: "First of all, thank you for choosing me as one of the Virtual Campus Scholarship recipients. I have struggled to get half-way through my program and dealt with many hard things, hindering my abilities. But nothing is more important to me than graduating and being able to start my paralegal career with an A.S. degree in Legal Studies. I rely on financial aid and student loans to pay for college, but because I went over full-time both semesters, I had no funding left for summer classes. I am a single mom and unable to work for a few reasons, therefore, getting this degree as soon as possible is a major priority for me."

"I am very grateful that I was one of the many people chosen. I really needed this scholarship to attend summer classes. It is a great honor and privilege to have received this scholarship and I am so thankful. It has made my life somewhat easier and not as stressful in a few areas of my life. I really do appreciate receiving this scholarship more than words can say."

So there you have it. Those are the reasons that we needed the fund. Thanks so much to the other employees who donate money to the e-Campus scholarship fund and /or help out with the few fundraising events we hold each year. You all make a difference.