For many students, half the battle of going to college is trying to find a way to pay tuition. Fortunately, there are thousands of various scholarship opportunities out there that students can apply for, or enter to win. Jason Mueller from the USA has written a guest blog for us this week, with some tips for teachers on encouraging your students to apply for international scholarships and study abroad.
As a teacher, you want to see your students challenge themselves and not only set goals, but smash them! Whether this means you introduce them to new books to read, a new way to complete a math problem or you challenge them to think outside the box when it comes to submitting those college applications, students listen to what their teachers say, even when you may think otherwise. So the best way to help guide them in their educational decisions is by encouraging them to take calculated risks to advance to a higher level of education.
For some students, the thought of traveling overseas can be a little scary but studying abroad can be a very beneficial time in a student’s life. Heading overseas for school allows a person to take in a whole new outlook on life by experiencing new cultures, language skills and even opportunities for employment that they would otherwise know nothing about. Best of all, studying abroad lets a student learn with new or different teaching styles than they may have experienced before. This lets a person really soak up the culture and learn more about the people around them, their traditions and even the way the society works.
So encourage your students to go overseas to college, and to start applying for international scholarships to help offset the cost of tuition overseas. You can encourage your students by guiding them in the right direction and this includes helping them determine whether the school of choice is a good school and helping them research a little about the local area near the school and the customs and traditions they might experience while in the new country. You can also use the following checklist to help them as they consider jetting across the ocean to attend school.
Start early
Students who start looking for scholarships early have a better chance of securing the funds they need in time to start school on time. If you have candidates for international study in your classroom, talk to them as soon as possible to get them started on the hunt for as many international scholarships as possible.
Encourage extracurricular activities
Many schools enjoy knowing that students participate in activities outside of school. This could be foreign language classes on their own time, cooking, dance or other classes. It could really help if the activities they enjoy coincide with things the overseas school offers. Extracurricular activities show a well-rounded lifestyle and that always looks good on a college resume.
Help them develop their writing skills
Work with your students to advance their writing skills if they need a little help. Many scholarships offer entry based on writing an essay, and students need to be able to write well to enter and win.
Search online
You may be surprised at the number of scholarships that a person can apply for online, and even more surprising is that some are super easy to get with little to no effort at all. A quick search on Google is a great way to begin searching for the scholarships your students need for studying abroad. Below are some examples of scholarships you could recommend to your students.
A-1 Auto Transport, Inc. $1000 Scholarship
Entry Deadline: March 10, 2018
Students must write a 1000-word or more essay with a focus on auto transport. Essays will be judged, and a winner chosen by the end of March 2018. Students must be enrolled in, or be enrolled by the 2018 school year a fully accredited two or four-year college, university, or trade school.
Entry Deadline: October 18, 2018
To enter to win this scholarship, students must fill out a simple form, write an essay showing how they have been able to save money in their daily life from using coupons for discounts and then submit the essay via the Coupon Birds website. Students must be enrolled in an accredited college or university in the U.S., UK, Canada or Hong Kong to enter.
$500 Annual Couponobox Student Scholarship
To find more great scholarships, be sure to set aside a little time with your students and spend a few minutes online. It doesn’t take long to find some great, as well as fun and creative ways to earn those scholarships to be able to study internationally.
