Scholarship

UPDATE: Unfortunately, my email account was hacked. If you submitted your application via email, please resend your application to [email protected] . If you mailed your application via snail mail, you should be fine. Because of these difficulties, we’ll be extending the deadline to Febuary 1, 2012.

On Mother’s day, I spoke to my Mom and told her that I wanted to create a scholarship fund in her name. And so, the Saralu Belkofer Scholarship was created.

My mom, known to most as Sam, suggested that the scholarship be made available to students with learning disabilities. This came as no surprise since she and I spent countless hours looking for available scholarships when I was in college. (Yes…I have a learning disability…two in fact.)

In addition to a $2,000 annual scholarship fund, recipients will be given the option to become a student of Internet marketing. If the student chooses to take part, he or she will receive guidance through an ongoing internship. As someone with ADHD, internet marketing has been an incredibly powerful force in my life. It inherently magnifies my strengths and minimizes my weaknesses. For example, social media marketing is very similar to my thought process…fast, sporadic, and a bit all of the place. Effective link building and SEO often requires the type of “out of the box” thinking that my teachers would call a distraction. Web design and infographic design allow me to get lost in creative thought. And on…and on. The scholarship recipient is by no means required to take part in the internship, nor are they required to have any desire whatsoever to consider Internet marketing as a profession.

Applicants must only meet three requirements in order to apply for the Sarulu Belkofer Scholarship.

1.) Applicants must be a senior in high school or attending college.

2.) Applicants must have a learning disability. Ideally, applicants will be able to provide official documentation of their disability. However, an official medical diagnosis is not required due to the often prohibitive costs of obtaining an official diagnosis.**

3.) Applicants must submit a written essay (maximum of 400 words) in which they explain why they should be chosen as the scholarship recipient. Rather than create boundaries with specific subject guidelines, we wanted to let applicants express themselves, their vision, and their individuality on their own terms.

In order to apply, all applicants should download the application BY CLICKING HERE. The application should answer any questions applicants may have. All applications should be submitted no later than December 15, 2011.

**If an applicant does not have an official diagnosis, a previous or current teacher, adviser, mentor etc. must be able to verify their disability. In cases where this isn’t possible, we will look at alternative solutions. Applicants SHOULD NOT include their documentation with their application. This is only required once they have been chosen as the scholarship recipient. We will contact you directly when we need documentation.