While SBCC Study Abroad alumni Lahla Sison knew she wanted to go on the STEM Germany program for a while, she was not sure how she would pay for it. While the programs are comparably low priced, it is still an expense that might not be in everyone's budget. When she found out that the U. S. Department of State offered a substantial scholarship to support students who wanted to study abroad, she started her journey to find out more. Read about Lahla's process to apply for the Gilman Study Abroad Scholarship in her guest blog below. Application deadlines are typically in March and October.
I felt that coming from a place where money is tight, the idea of going abroad seemed impossible. However, I began to feel a lot more motivated when I saw how many opportunities there were to make it possible! One thing to keep in mind is that in order to be able to apply for the Gilman Study Abroad Scholarship, you must be eligible for financial aid. The sooner you begin your research and start collecting information, the better, especially when it comes down to the Gilman scholarship. It is a long application process, but very doable. To keep yourself motivated to go through and complete the process, just keep in mind that you can potentially get paid $3,000 to $5,000 for less than an overall 10 hours of your time! That is around $500 an hour, which I believe is well worth it. When I received this scholarship, it paid for the whole program!
It took me approximately two weeks to finish the entire application but that was at a leisurely pace. The longest parts of the application are the two essays that you have to write. One is a personal statement that tells the Gilman committee more about yourself, and why you are deserving of the scholarship. Keep in mind that everyone who applies has a financial need and needs to be a Pell Grant recipient, so it's important you highlight other areas of your life and academics to show why you might be more deserving than another applicant.
The second essay, asks you to write a project proposal, which you would have to do six months after your return from the trip. The focus for that project is to find ways on how to spread the word about the Gilman scholarship and studying abroad. Because Gilman wants you to ‘pay it forward” they are asking you to explain how you would go about promoting the Gilman Scholarship if you were to receive it. Before submitting my final draft, I utilized some of the resources SBCC offers. If you want additional help with your essays, you can always go to the Writing Center. There is also usually a Gilman Workshop on campus that you can go to prior to submitting your application. The workshop is led by Carolina Smith, Senior Program Director of Study Abroad Programs. Her advice was extremely helpful. The reward for all the work I put in was that I was able to stay in Europe for a whole month almost fully paid for. The money is awarded directly to you and deposited into your bank account after you receive the notification that you are a scholarship recipient. This allows you to use the money for the program costs and other additional costs.
Maybe I’ll meet you at one of the Gilman workshops on campus!
If you have not read any of my blogs yet, make sure you check them out!! ~ Lahla Sison