There once was a little girl who had always dreamt of becoming a doctor. She strived for greatness in everything she did, but had no idea what steps to take senior year. SURE, not everyone wants to become a doctor, but EVERYONE will one day graduate— which means everyone needs a plan.

“Planning your whole life with Tatum” is a column that will provide guidance through common high school pitfalls and hopefully guide you through the many processes by looking into scholarships, post-secondary schools, and various career paths.

First, let’s dive into scholarships. Thirty to forty local scholarships will be available in the guidance office from February to March. However, there is an abundant number already online just waiting for applicants.

Careeronestep.org allows people to search more than 7,500 scholarships, fellowships, grants, and other financial aid award opportunities.

With 7,500 awards exhibited it might seem like a lot of digging around to do, that’s why this website arranges the scholarships in order of closest deadline with the opportunity to narrow the list. Students can search by keyword, use filters to see certain types of awards, locations, level of study, and more.

https://www.careeronestop.org/toolkit/training/find-scholarships.aspx

Another site, scholarshipowl.com also offers students a simple and easy way to discover eligible scholarships through a well-organized and stress-free website. Have someone else do the work for once –all that is required is the student’s birthdate, gender, field of study, and current school level.

If you want to begin your future the right way, I fully recommend applying to as many scholarships as possible. See the following charts if you want to start thinking about budgeting and stress about your future more! 🙂

By looking at this chart, you can see how much life really costs and how important it is to save money in any way possible.

By applying to scholarships, students can decrease their education cost. This way, you can save money for that big house and family you’ve always wanted instead of paying off your school loans for the rest of your life.

The most important advice I need to give to students is to continuously try your hardest in school. No matter how tired, annoyed, or “done” you are, your determination will surely be appreciated as an adult.