Quit yer bitchin.....

dFor a person with a hearing loss going to college for the first time will come to the realization (mostly the parents' realization) that cost of college just keeps getting more expensive with each passing year. The best thing to prepare well ahead of time by researching all of the available and possible scholarships and grants that can help keep expenses down. There are some 2.7 million local, state and national college scholarships and grants worth over 19 billion dollars for free! Imagine that. There are several possible scholarships or grants a deaf or hard of hearing person can apply for.

Each of these organization or institution has the right to define the eligibility criteria in order to qualify for a scholarship or grant such as Alexander Graham Bell's which provides about 18 or so scholarships each year to qualified applicants. But what happens when deaf people find out about AGB and do not qualify?

"Life is soooooooo unfair!" (*rants* *rants* *throws self on floor and proceed to Defcon 4 temper tantrum*)

That's pretty much in a nutshell. Unbelievably so.

People need to learn to move on and keep digging when it comes to searching for free money. There are scholarships and grants available that have nothing to do with hearing loss or disability. In fact, there are tons of them! If you are a female and want to study law, there are scholarships/grants out there for that. African American? Yep. Good at sports? Sure thang! Even kids of deceased parents can tap into scholarships specifically for them. Are you a single Mom and going to college? Yep, there's a grant for that, too. Amazing. Just about almost anything you can think of there's a grant for it. And you can tally up those grants worth $300, $150, $500, $800, $100 and so on. It can add up quickly when you "nickle and dime" your grants together over time.

How about pound the pavement for a change instead of trying to find something easier that focuses directly on a person's own hearing loss? Look around. Invest your time and energy and dig up these valuable scholarship and grant resources that are worth over $19 billion dollars. How can you get that piece of the pie to help with your college expenses? Simple. You dig around for it like you would panning for gold along a creek. Be sure to give yourself at least a year's time to dig up these gold nuggets before attending college and make a note when to apply for them when the time is right.  And do not stop looking. Just because you have a good list of possible grants or scholarships doesn't mean you stop looking because not you may not get that award after you apply. It's best to keep looking and add more to your list of grants and scholarships. 

Bitchin' about AGBell's scholarship award program regarding its eligibility criteria is simply a big waste of time. AGBell has every right to define those criteria for eligibility purposes just like any other scholarships or grants you apply for.

Time to stop crying like a baby over that. Let's be an adult for a change because going to college is an investment of your time and resource. Spend it wisely.  Know where to look and get that gold nugget you were looking for.

Good luck for 2012 and beyond. You'll need it.