Apart from assignments and exams, another stressor that looms over college students is the financial burden to survive. Paying rent, investing in transit, and buying groceries are all essential for survival, but also difficult to manage on a tight college budget. Enter scholarships.

That’s right. Though college life does come with it’s fair share of cons, a definitive pro is that as a student, you have the opportunity to apply for scholarships to help ease some of that financial burden. And Humber and IGNITE do their best every year to make sure they can supply ample scholarships to hardworking students.

Make use of these opportunities and don’t wait till the start of the year to fill those applications.

Instead, get a head start this summer! Here’s how.

Find scholarships

Humber and IGNITE have a variety of scholarships available for the student body. Therefore, they are a great place to start scholarship hunting! Humber’s scholarship portal provides all the information on the current and upcoming scholarships they offer.

Make sure you fill out the general application or draft it according to the requirements beforehand. Having to fill out these applications during your summer break or before you restart college is way less stressful than having to do so while being drowned in assignments.

Check the requirements

Though there are plenty of scholarships available on the portal, make sure you do a thorough check to outline which ones you qualify for. Even though the applications may not be available at the moment, knowing the requirements can help you draft your applications before time.

It’s important to know the requirements so you only apply to the scholarships you qualify for because all the effort you put into drafting applications will go to waste otherwise.

Jot down the deadlines

Knowing the deadlines of the scholarships you are applying to is crucial! To help you stay organized, we suggest making a spreadsheet or creating some type of document that outlines every scholarship you want to apply for along with their deadlines.

Since some scholarships may have ended and will not be available in summer, it’s important to add reminders to keep checking for their availability and deadlines.

Get your references in order

Often scholarship applications need references and that can be time consuming if the individual you want to give as your reference is busy. Try to reach out to these people beforehand explaining what you expect them to say when submitting a reference form. In Humber’s general application category, you can fill out the form in advance and get your references to back you up in their free time.

Starting this process early gives you enough time to ensure your references are reliable and also have the time to complete any necessary reference letters. Plus, giving yourself ample time can help prevent you from becoming anxious when the deadline is too near.

Now that you know how to get started on applying to scholarships this summer here are some IGNITE scholarships to keep an eye out for:

• IGNITE’S GLOW scholarship
• IGNITE’S Black excellence scholarship
• IGNITE’S Pride scholarship
• IGNITE’S Indigenous scholarship

Though we want you to spend most of your summer having fun, going to concerts, having picnics, dining at patios and enjoying days at the beach, it’s still a good idea to keep a few days allotted to work on your scholarship applications to reduce your future financial burdens.

Have a happy summer!

Don’t know how to be there for yourself? These tips might help!

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