Advice For Upcoming Juniors 

As senior year is ending for people, the question of how to pay for college is rising.  There are many ways to help lower the cost of college, such as financial aid, student loans, and scholarships. There are still abundant scholarships available for anyone to apply for.  

If you plan to study political science, cultural anthropology, geography, or history, then applying for the Ryan T. Herich Memorial Scholarship would be your choice.  The deadline is April 15, 2024, and only three winners are announced on May 15, 2024. The winners will receive $5,000 each.  This scholarship requires a 400-to-600-word essay about how you plan to make a difference in the world by better understanding how the lessons learned from history, cultural anthropology, political science, or geography might make the world a better place.

The Isaac Yunhu Lee Memorial Arts Scholarship has only one winner with a prize of 25,650 dollars.  This scholarship is meant for people with a low-income background who are planning to major in the Arts. The application deadline is April 9, 2024, and the winner is announced on May 9, 2024. You’ll need a picture of your favorite artwork you’ve created along with a 400-to-600-word written piece about what inspired the art.

The “I Matter” Scholarship is for $1,030 and has two winners. This scholarship requires 400 to 600 words describing how you helped someone in need. The application deadline is April 8, 2024, with the winners announced May 8, 2024.

The Young Women in STEM Scholarship is for women who are planning to major in STEM.  Out of three winners, you can earn 5,000 dollars towards your education. This scholarship’s deadline is May 23, 2024, and the winners will be announced on June 23, 2024. To apply for the scholarship, all you have to do is answer three questions with a word limit of 250 words each, explaining what motivated you, what excites you about STEM, and lastly, what was the greatest challenge you’ve had to overcome and what you learned from it.

If your field of interest is dance, you can apply for the Gayle McKinney-Griffith Memorial Scholarship. By only answering the question ‘What does dance mean to you?’, using 400 to 600 words, you can win 1,000 dollars toward your schooling. The last day to apply is on April 30, 2024; the winner will be announced on May 31, 2024.

There are many more scholarships available to apply for. You can find them on Bold.org

Advice for Upcoming Juniors

With the school year rapidly ending, many sophomores may find themselves worried about their upcoming Junior year. With questions like, “Why is junior year supposedly so difficult? What can I do to prepare myself for it?” or even questions like “How can I be rightfully prepared for my ACTs or SATs?”, students worry about their next year to come. But not to worry, I have asked Kings High School’s very own Mrs. Henderson all about things upcoming juniors may need to know and prepare for.

Do Juniors need to start to worry about scholarships?

“Typically students only apply for scholarships when they’re a senior, Seniors will apply for colleges in the fall. When we get to January, they’ll start to hear from some of those colleges and make a decision maybe about where they want to go. January and February is when we typically communicate out a lot of our scholarship options.”

How can students prepare to take the ACT or the SAT?

“There’s a number of different ways that students can prepare for the ACT. I have a sheet that I share with students that have scripts and tricks; first of all, one way you can prepare is to come to get a little sheet in the office here, where we have a list of places that do tutoring, or places that offer online free help. One way to prepare for the ACT is to enroll on websites and start practicing online. Another way is to use some tutors. And the last way is honestly just to get the big red ACT book to prepare.”

When do most juniors take their ACT?

“Most juniors will consider taking the test for the first time either in December of their junior year or wait until March when they’ll take it here during the school day.”

What would you say is the hardest part of junior year?

“You start to build, I think, a little bit. I think you start to move into more of a leadership role to the underclassmen, and sometimes even in after-school clubs, they may be looking for club leaders and with the junior year you become those leaders. But the most important thing to remember is never to overwhelm yourself with all new responsibilities.”

Many people may find junior year difficult because of the newfound responsibilities it brings, but with the help of the guidance counselors and the teachers around us, you may find your year easier than you might think. If you have any more questions about junior year, ACTs or scholarships, it’s important to talk to your guidance counselor to answer these questions.