One of the biggest struggles that students might face in attending college is the cost of tuition. Student loans can be overwhelming and strap young adults with an enormous amount of debt before they ever reach full-time employment. Receiving scholarships or grants can be a huge relief for students and their families.
FIT Healthcare senior Abagail Carte, received a $2,500 community service scholarship after talking to over 250 elementary school students from New River and Fayetteville Elementary about fire safety. The scholarship is called the AXA Achievement Scholarship, and it has provided for an array of students across the country, as well as United States territories.
Before receiving the scholarship, Carte and other Healthcare students participated in a program called “The Pillowcase Project,” in which she made a speech about fire safety. The healthcare students then passed out survival kits for the kids to keep.
Carte said, “We gave them Disney-themed pillow cases that they could put emergency supplies in.”
Carte was quick to point out that she was not alone in this project. “My entire Health Occupations class was involved in the Pillowcase Project that I won this scholarship for. We did it together through the American Red Cross.”
The Pillowcase Project helps students (ages 8 to 11) prepare for emergency situations and recognize the best ways to stay safe in their communities and homes, according to the American Red Cross.
To apply for the AXA Achievement Scholarship, Carte and her classmates had to write about how the project impacted the community and what challenges they faced. Carte says, “One of the challenges that I faced was public speaking.” But Carte overcame that fear when talking to students, seeing that it was helping them with preparing themselves and their communities.
For motivation to sign up for the scholarship, Carte said that “I heard about [the scholarship] through my counselor, Christina Persinger at Midland Trail High School. Annette Ashley, my Health Occupations teacher, really encouraged me to apply.”
After receiving her scholarship, Carte said, “It was really exciting! My parents were there when I got the email, so we all got up and started dancing. And it was really cool to be able to tell my school that I won a $1000 grant too.”
Carte plans to use her earned scholarship money for college, stating that, “I was trying to get my entire tuition paid off and the scholarship has helped achieve that goal. So now, I will just have to pay for the room and board.”