A Bear's Life: Student Stories

Student stories from our peer counselors

Foundational Scholarship Application (Spring 2024, Week 3)

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Welcome Back Missouri State Bears! In my first blog post for the semester, I have a confession to make: I’ve never applied for the Missouri State University Foundation Annual Scholarship until this year. I’m writing this post to advise all who are reading to apply. Don’t make the same mistake I did!

 

What is the Missouri State University Foundation Annual Scholarship?

According to MSU’s Foundation Scholarship page, “The Missouri State University Foundation Annual Scholarship Application automatically applies students for nearly 1,000 donor-funded scholarship opportunities at Missouri State University for the 2024 – 2025 Academic School Year.” The application is available from November 1, 2023 – April 1, 2024. All current undergraduate and graduate students, as well as all incoming freshmen, transfer students, and graduate students starting at Missouri State University in Fall 2024 are eligible to apply. Something important to note is that the application is for “Donor-Funded Scholarships at Missouri State University only. It is not for University, State, or Federally funded financial aid.” To access the application students will login to My Missouri State University and locate the “Financial Aid and Scholarship” card. Students can click the “MSU Foundation Scholarships” link to access the form. The Application Deadline is April 1, 2024, at 11:59 p.m. 

 

Why I Didn’t Apply for the MSU Foundation Scholarship and Why I Wish I Did

As I confessed at the start of the post, this was my first year applying for the scholarship despite being able to able to apply for the past three years. I hadn’t heard of this scholarship opportunity as an incoming freshman so I want to ensure that others are aware that opportunity is available. For the following years, the university did a great job advertising the information and making it publicized and this is where I told myself the lie that too many students would apply and I wouldn’t stand out. The reality is that while a majority of the student body does apply for the scholarship, a wide range of criteria increases the opportunity for students to benefit. Examples of criteria that factor into the application are the applicant’s “major, high school attended, outstanding academic achievement, leadership and/or financial need.” Something else I had assumed before even opening the application was that the application would take a long time to complete. This year I opened the application over the holiday break so that I could sit down and focus on the task. What I found was that students can save progress on the application as they go so it can be broken down into smaller parts and done over time without losing your work. A progress bar was included at the top of the page which I found to be helpful motivation. After completing the application, I learned the process does not take long at all and that if you divide the requirements into smaller sections it becomes much easier to tackle.

Tips When Completing the Application

The biggest tip I have when filling out any scholarship application is to have an updated running list of all of your accomplishments, skills, grades, and leadership experiences. Remembering what all you’ve done or discerning what is worthy enough to go into an application can be tricky but I found talking it out to be helpful. The Success Coaches and Peer Mentors in the CAST office are a great resource before writing your application. Meeting with a coach or mentor can help you map out what experiences to write about and help name skills you might not have known you even had. Recommendation letters are always a good piece to include in a scholarship application but can be uncomfortable to ask for if it is your first time. Coaches and mentors can also help guide you in writing a request for a recommendation letter or brainstorming who to ask for one. 

 

Takeaways

If there is one thing that I’ve learned about this process, it is that I wish I had done it sooner. If you are reading this and you haven’t filled out the application, I strongly encourage you to do so. If you have already completed the application or you’ve started the process, pat yourself on the back and direct others to this post to encourage them to do the same. 

[Information found on the MSU Foundation Scholarship page ]

~Aubrey

(Bio: My name is Aubrey Hardy, a junior studying special needs education. Fun fact: I grew up on a farm.)

Five Things I wish I knew: College Edition (Fall 2021, Week 11)

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Hello all,

It has been a rollercoaster ride to just get to week eleven, but we have finally arrived. This semester has been very different for me, but I’ve been rolling with the punches and challenging myself to face whatever comes up.

Lately, I have been thinking about how much I’ve changed since freshman year. Missouri State was a new playing field for me and it took me some time to figure things out. This week I want to share some of these lessons with you—maybe they will help you out!

Five things I wish I knew about college when I started

  1. A better understanding of the financial aid system

Life at Missouri State came with a lot more responsibility and freedom than I was given in high school and I had to adapt accordingly. Freshman year I had to figure out what holds were, how to make payments on my student account, and where to go on campus when I needed in-person help with my account. I learned to save myself from a lot of stress by keeping up with any documents that I needed. The Office of Student Financial Aid has always been there when I really didn’t know what I was doing financially for school or when I wanted to know what I was paying for on my account.

Lesson learned: Don’t avoid or ignore financial aid.

  1. Your mental, physical and emotional health will be challenged

I expected to be challenged academically when I started at Missouri State, but I found out that living away from home and keeping up with other aspects of life resulted in additional challenges. I was prepared to do laundry, cook for myself and keep everything clean, but balancing all that with my courses during my first two semesters was hard. I realized that I would have to adapt my schedule to accomplish everything. As I worked on a better schedule, I included time for studying, being with my friends and having some alone time. After a few months, I learned what worked for me, so that those different challenges weren’t so overwhelming anymore.

Lesson learned: Find ways that will help you deal with the new challenges you face as a college student. Not all of your challenges will come from academics but may interconnect with other things going on in your life. Missouri State offers some wonderful services to help you out like the Counseling Center (I’ve used them and will continue to do so), so try them out if you ever need help with your mental health.

  1. There is nothing wrong with meeting your advisor

In the beginning, I didn’t enjoy having to meet with my advisor and talk about my future or what I was going to do on my path to graduation. I found it stressful to make decisions that I wasn’t so sure about especially when it was time to register. After realizing I didn’t know everything about my major, including which classes to take in which order, I started to understand how important and useful it was to meet with my advisor. She was there to help me plan out each of my semesters, listen to what I had to say and any concerns that I had. Now, as a senior, I frequently meet up with my advisor. Honestly, I think that I made my advisor’s job a little harder these past few semesters (😆), but she has been a great help to me in any way that she can.

Lesson learned: Don’t be afraid to meet your advisor, even if it’s for something small. They really do help you. Registration for the spring semester has already started, so be sure to contact your advisors soon.

  1. You have to be dedicated and passionate

Before I got to Missouri State, I was still in the process of figuring out what major, and ultimately what career, I would like to have. I met some great people through Missouri State that helped me confirm my choice to declare a business major. Being a business major has been harder than I expected, and I have figured out that I have to be dedicated and passionate to get to where I would like to be. It takes a lot of hard work to reach some academic goals, but I always keep in mind that I’m attending college because my future career is waiting for me.

Lesson learned: If you ever find yourself questioning your career choice or even your major, you should definitely check out the Career Center. I’ve met some really nice people from the Career Center who have helped me figure out what I want to do and what types of classes I should take.

  1. College is a Job

I had never had a job before I came to Missouri State, but I quickly realized that college is as much a job as anything else. I spend hours working on assignments for each of my classes and keeping up with everything I need to get done.

Lesson learned: I’ve recently been using planners, Google Sheets and Excel to plan my daily life and keep everything on track.

Takeaways for the Week

Your perceptions of college from before you attend are definitely going to change as you experience college first-hand. If I had learned the above lessons before starting at MSU, I may have saved myself some of the stress and confusion I experienced in my first semesters.

See you next post! There are lots of topics to come.

~Alexandria

(Bio: I’m the middle child of seven kids in my immediate family. I’m currently a Senior Business major at Missouri State University.)

Storytime (Spring 2021, Week 7)

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Storytime

Hi Bears, it’s me again. I wanted to try something a little different with this blog post because I’ve experienced a lot as a Missouri State student and it really helps to share. This is my third year of being an MSU student and each semester is different from the last. Being an online student right now has been a huge adjustment after my first two years on campus and I’m still working my way through it. I’ve also had my fair share of joining organizations, studying for hours on end, or just trying to find myself outside of my coursework. I’ve met some great staff and campus organizations and I want to share with you part of my Missouri State story…

The story

Coming to Missouri State I didn’t know much about financial aid or how everything worked so I visited Financial Aid and Financial Services frequently. I found myself in a tough spot during my freshman year trying to pay off my balance and keep myself from charging my own account and accumulating more fees. Through my constant visits to the financial offices, I found Mr. Lamar Curtis, who helped me understand and pointed me in the right directions. I could talk to Mr. Curtis about anything or let him know any of my concerns. Mr. Curtis also introduced me to TRIO, an organization on campus that could help me find scholarships and provide access to other services, like tutoring.

The program

After learning about TRIO, I decided to sign up and see if I could get into the program; as a freshman, I wanted to try something new, but I also wanted to take advantage of some good resources on campus. TRIO is a good program for students because they assist students in attending and graduating from college and they do so by providing tutoring, a supportive environment, and academic advising. Without TRIO, I think I would have been lost during my first year at Missouri State because everything around me was new and campus had so much to offer its students. I am happy that I found a really good program that has kept me on track, given me options, and has allowed me to experience things that I could never imagine doing on my own.

How It’s Going

I’ve continued to be a part of the TRIO program and I don’t regret it one bit. TRIO has kept me on my toes and has helped me to reach my goals.

Missouri State has some great programs, clubs, and groups that not only make college fun to experience but also give students a humongous number of opportunities. I want to challenge you to try different things; you might just find something you weren’t looking for yet.

~Alexandria

(Bio: I’m the middle child of seven kids in my immediate family. I’m currently a junior business major at Missouri State University.)