Heading off to college is stressful. You have to decide where you want to go to school if you can afford it, how you\’ll afford it, what you want your major to be and more. Now throw in a pandemic and everything has become just a little bit harder. All these questions play a major role in your decision. When I was trying to decide where I wanted to go to college it was so stressful. I knew that I needed to find something that was in-state, but after being heavily bullied from fifth grade to my senior year – I knew I wouldn\’t want to stay local.

In my first year, I decided to stay local at a community college. Within a few months of being local at community college, I decided that I needed to apply elsewhere. I applied to a school that was 7.5 hours away. I ended up getting accepted and then all the questions started coming into play. How would I get to school? I don\’t have a car, so what will I do? How am I going to pay for school? Can I get a loan? Can I get a scholarship? What do I do? The stress became a lot to deal with, and finally, I just took it one step at a time.

When it comes to scholarships even if you cannot find a large one you could potentially get a few small ones, and let me tell you those add up. There are plenty of small scholarships you can find online like the academic scholarship from Marc Zboch. In order to help lift a little bit of financial stress off the shoulders of students, Marc Zboch has a $1000 scholarship. While $1000 may not seem like a lot in the grand scheme of things, think about what this money could be used for. I mean, hello book money – those bad boys are expensive.

How do you have a chance to win this $1000 scholarship?
It\’s simple, all you need to do is prepare a 500-word essay that answers the following prompt: \”Tell us about a meaningful experience where you were able to help others?\” Simple! Marc Zboch is making it easy for you to have a little extra money in your pocket when you start college. You have until February 1, 2021, to apply.

College isn\’t just about spending time in the books. It\’s creating memories, making new friends, and enjoying yourself. If you\’re stuck with your head in the books and then working a job you won\’t get to enjoy everything that college life has to offer. Using scholarships will help make sure that you get to live up college to the fullest. I know I did! I spend days studying at the beach and weekends hiking every trail that I could possibly find. Nature became another classroom and I would have never been able to have that happen if I was stuck working jobs just to get by.

No matter where you decide to go to school or what you decide to major in, getting a couple scholarships will definitely help lift any financial burden that may arise. Not to mention, books are so expensive – I had a class that we only opened the book once. I spent $500 on a book that I opened once, it was crazy. My grandparents paid for all of my books, and I ended up having to foot the bill for college with  A LOT of student loans. I didn\’t think to search online for scholarships and had I of done that I probably would have had less debt to pay off.

Don\’t forget, the small scholarships are the ones that will give you the best chance of winning some extra cash for college.