When you flip through a high school newspaper, sports stories make up a lot of what you’ll see. While there are many benefits to sports such as exercise and teamwork, a few of Yutan’s seniors, who all earned themselves full-tuition academic scholarships, have found that having strong academics can really help your future.
One of these seniors is Reagan Wilson, who earned Wayne State College’s Presidential Scholarship, which covers all of tuition and half of room and board. In order to be awarded this scholarship, students must have reached a composite score of 30 or higher on the ACT.
“I think a lot of people just don’t recognize how much being good in academics can help you with college,” Wilson said. “I think a lot of people when they’re in school focus more on ‘I want to be the best athlete’ or things like that.”
Focusing on her academics is something that Wilson and fellow senior Joey Benjamin attribute much of their success to in order to receive these scholarships. Like Wilson, Benjamin is also a recipient of the Presidential Scholarship and is going to Wayne State College.
“It’s just really important to keep your grades up all throughout your high school career,” Benjamin said. “So when you think freshman year doesn’t matter, it matters just as much as senior year.”
Two other seniors who achieved the Regents Scholarship and plan on attending the University of Nebraska-Lincoln are seniors Bella Tederman and Bryce Kolc. This scholarship covers full tuition up to 120 credit hours. The Regents Scholarship requirements are based on various academic achievements like GPA, class rank and a composite ACT score of 32 and higher.
“I felt very excited about receiving the scholarship because it will be very helpful for being able to go to college without having to worry as much about the cost,” Kolc said.
Just like at Wayne and University of Nebraska-Lincoln, many of these types of scholarships require students to have a score of a 30 and above on the ACT. Reaching this high of a score doesn’t come without great preparation, however. All these seniors found that the ACT prep through John Baylor helped immensely when transitioning to the test.
“The ACT prep we did was very important and helpful because it helped me get a good grasp on what the tests are and what I should expect to see in them,” Kolc said. “I would definitely tell them (students) to pay every bit of attention because it makes a world of a difference on the ACT.”
Another thing that was helpful for Tederman was taking the ACT more than once.
“Taking the ACT multiple times helped me because I got a better idea of what to expect,” Tederman said. “I knew what I was doing when I took it the third time because of my experience with the first two tests.”
Though hard to obtain, these scholarships are what lift much of the financial burden off of these soon-to-be college students.
“It’s kind of a stress reliever for my parents [because] a lot of crazy stuff happened this year. My house caught on fire. My car got stolen,” Wilson said. “So it feels nice to make myself proud and my family proud and relieve some of the stress that sending one of your children to college brings.”
Especially for students like Benjamin, who is continuing his football career into college, having an academic scholarship has lessened some pressure.
“Having the scholarships and being involved in football just opens so many new doors and opportunities to better myself while also taking the burden of tuition off of me,” Benjamin said.
With having themselves in a good position for their futures, these seniors hope that their successes inspire others to do the same.
“It might feel pointless, but it all pays off later down the line…and the work you do now definitely helps you,” Tederman said.
