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Ever
think a trip to the principal's office could
yield big bucks? One student struck gold
in the inner sanctum of his high school.
Disney
is Paying Christian's Way Through College
By
Robyn Tellefsen
May 2002
The
CollegeBound Network NewsClick -- When senior
Christian Huebner was called to the principal's
office at Lincoln East High School, Lincoln,
NE, he didn't know what to think. What he
received there was what he had least expected
-- a phone call from the National Junior
Achievement Headquarters, informing him
he'd won The Walt Disney Company Foundation
Scholarship for 2002.
"I
was caught by surprise," Christian
recalls, "and
I felt more grateful than anything else."
He understands the value of his four-year,
full-tuition scholarship, plus $200 cash
each year for incidental fees.
In
order to qualify for the scholarship, Christian
needed to be affiliated with Junior Achievement
(JA), an organization dedicated to educating
young people about business, economics,
and free enterprise. He met this requirement
through his school's JA economics course,
where he was president of the class company,
Half Full. But that wasn't where he discovered
the free money; persistence led him to his
pot of gold.
Each
week, his high school counseling center
prepared a packet on scholarships, which
Christian read religiously. When he came
across the sizeable Disney scholarship,
he decided to apply. "The fact that
it was a full-tuition scholarship piqued
my interest," he says. "I had
no expectation of [winning], but for that
amount of money, I thought, 'it's worth
the time.'" Christian had some small
college savings bonds and a few investments
that his parents set aside for college,
yet says these would not have been nearly
enough to cover the $27,000 per year tuition
at his school of choice, St. Olaf College,
Northfield, MN.
To
make sure he didn't put all his financial
fantasies into one organization, he also
competed at St. Olaf for academic scholarships.
He was a National Merit Finalist, and he
received another college award for his top-notch
academics. "When I added it all up,
I was actually looking at a surplus of $10,000
per year!"
After
experiencing monetary recognition for his
work, Christian was amazed that less than
200 students were in the running for the
Disney scholarship. "It's surprising
how few students apply for all the scholarship
money out there," he says. Christian
advises others to "definitely take
the time to apply [for scholarships], even
if you don't think you have a shot."
After all, what have you got to lose?
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