by Wendy Brumback

Created on: July 30, 2010   Last Updated: July 31, 2010

I hate being an average, white, college student.

Yes, you heard me right.  No, I am not racist.  It is simply hard to go out scholarship searching – as I have done the past several years.  With every flip of the page, or click of the mouse I find myself rejecting over half the scholarships out there – all because I am white.  Now, don’t get me wrong, I think it is good that there have been so many scholarships popping up to help provide minorities in this country with a higher education.  But, hey what about me?  I have applied for so many scholarships it is unbelievable.   I have written so many essays I can no longer count.

And I haven’t received a single one. 

I’m not a horrible student.  I’ve had a 3.84 GPA this last year.  But, it seems every scholarship I find wants you to belong to all these groups, and be involved in so many things.  I don’t fit the bill.  I’ve tried limiting my scholarship searches to my majors, and still only find a few here and there that I can apply for.  And then there are the ones for low income families.  Apparently, my income is not low enough – but not high enough to actually be able to afford college.

That leaves me with the scholarships that anyone can apply for.  My chances there are very slim, seeing as all they do it pick a student randomly.

The sad part is I listen to friends talk, or watch a graduation ceremony, and there is always those students, the super smart kids, that receive double and sometimes triple what they will need to pay for four years of school – all in their first year.

You stand back and think – that is where all the money went.  Still schools continue to bring you hope.  They say there are thousands of scholarships out there that nobody even applies for.  Yet, they never tell you where to find them.  They tell you to search around town, that many local businesses offer scholarships.  And you read article upon article telling you places to go to find scholarships.  But, once you get there you find they don’t apply to you.

It is an exhausting search – so much so that the school year hits and you wonder if you have any strength left to study. 

So, as I enter into my final year of school, I will be taking out yet more loans, loans I know should be unnecessary.  I look out at the way in which scholarships are handed out and know that something is going wrong.  Those truly in need of it are not getting the money they need.

That is way I am urging companies, groups, and even individuals to look to support college students in new ways.  We need “I couldn’t get a scholarship” scholarships, “I’m poor, but not poor enough” and “I’m a good student – just not the best student that ever lived” scholarships.  Find ways to support all those average students just like me that still deserve a good education, and could use a little help in the finical departments.

It may be too late for me, but not for your children.

Learn more about this author, Wendy Brumback.
Click here to send this author comments or questions.