College Student Seeks an Education Without Drama

Would you hire this home-school kid?

Editors Note: This young man, responsible and well liked in his community, graduated from home school. He attends Central Community College in Hastings, Nebraska, studying automotive technology. He earned a prestigious scholarship. Then, he learned that some scholarships come with strings attached. This is his letter to the administration of Central Community College. (Photo credit: Central Community College website stock photo-this is not the student we are speaking of )

President Sisson,

VP Eakin,

And to be forwarded to the members of the Board of Directors at the Walter T. Scott Jr. Pathway Scholarship.

My name is (redacted), and I am writing to you of my concerns about the Walter Scott Jr. Pathway Scholarship, and why I decided to leave it forever.

Before my first year of college, I applied for scholarships through Award Spring. Not too long afterwards, I received notification that I was selected to get the Walter Scott Jr. Scholarship. At first, I was obviously excited to have nearly all of my college paid for. But I began to run into some issues, starting 2 weeks before the start of the school year.

 My parents and I were informed during the interview that I would need to spend 2 weeks for an event called a “Summer Bridge.” What we were told would be an experience to help us get into our field, turned into 2 weeks of endless “workshops” and useless events that had almost nothing to do with our trades. Those 2 weeks ended in an absolutely ridiculous “retreat” for team building skills, where the Pathway told us what to do the entire time as if we, the Scholars, were little kids. I learned nothing new during those two weeks, and it was not an enjoyable time. This entire time, I could have been working at my job in Kearney, making more money than the Scholarship compensated us for those 2 weeks.

 After school had started, the Scholarship would often require us to go to events, more workshops and volunteer work. This would cut into the time that I would be working during the day, and some events even cut into class time in the middle of the day, which I absolutely do not approve of. While the scholarship did pay for my tuition and board, I still need to go to work every day and get as many hours in as possible so that I still have my own money for fuel, personal food and groceries, which are basic necessities. These activities stole hundreds of dollars away from each student.

 There were multiple times the scholarship had us do “Volunteer” work. Don’t get me wrong; I absolutely don’t mind volunteering at some events, but the problem is, volunteering is just that: Volunteered! When the scholarship forces us to work at events, it is no longer voluntary to do so. When volunteer work is forced in society, it tends to be criminals that are forced to do volunteer work. The only scholarships that should be allowed to make students work for the money they receive are ones that come from businesses, where the student signs a contract stating that they will work for the company for a certain number of years after their schooling has been completed. Once again, when I signed up for the scholarship, I was not informed that I would need to take time off of both work and school just to complete the activities.

 On numerous occasions, events were against morals and beliefs of multiple students, and such events were not presented as optional to the students. Yoga, for instance, was one of these events. Yoga positions and ideas were strictly from the Hindu religion, something that is completely against me and my family’s Christian beliefs. The way the activities were presented to us in the contract we agreed to was that they would be “Career Development Activities”. Instead of activities being “just for fun” or otherwise useless (Yoga, bowling, zoo visit, the whole Summer Bridge, R-rated movies, etc.), these activities should have included taking the scholars to different places nearby that actually used the trades being taught in the school. Most students in the scholarship would much rather tour local businesses and see what goes on behind the scenes of their favorite trades than to go out and play, which takes away from time at work to pay their own personal bills.

 It is for these reasons listed above that I have decided to completely leave the Walter Scott Jr. Pathway Scholarship, no longer accept their funding, and continue on without their name weighing heavy on my shoulder.

 Thank you for your time. I would appreciate a response to know if anything may be done to fix what is broken.

Signed by student.