Friday Night Session

Scholarship 102

Title: The Right Mindset for a Scholarship Enthusiast

Writer and Guest: Scholar @matajson

INSTRUCTIONS
-Read the thread.
- Drop your questions under the thread. Scholar @matajson will answer your questions
-Retweet so others can benefit.

To start this discussion, it is important we define what mindset means. According to a definition from Oxford Languages, mindset connotes the established set of attitudes held by someone.

It is this set of attitudes that determine the outcome of one’s life

– the limit of our success is defined by the kind of mindset we possess. As a result, people are always encouraged to have the RIGHT mindset as they go through life. And this cut across all facets of life – career, leadership, marriage and even in academics.

In scholarship pursuit, the wrong mindset is capable of frustrating one’s plans and ability to secure fully funded positions.

In this discussion, we would be considering the set of positive attitudes that a scholarship enthusiast must possess.

Since it is impossible to exhaust all, I will only share 5 important attitudes:

1) Attitude of diligence: In my personal experience and those of others I have met, it is impossible to win scholarships without putting in a persistent effort/work.

Persistency and hard work, the hallmarks of diligence are important virtues one must have as a scholarship enthusiast. The scholarship journey is filled with failures and uncertainties, what helps is the ability not to give up and consistently putting in the work.

I remembered that I had to apply to about 8 different countries and multiple scholarships before I got a fully funded PhD position in the USA. Your first attempt might not get you through the door. You might need to make the second, third and even the fourth attempt.

If you are someone who easily gives up, it would be hard for you to win a scholarship.

2) Attitude of patience: In this scholarship journey, patience is an attitude that needs to be cultivated.

Patience would be required when e-mailing potential advisors and not

getting the expected replies.

Patience would come in handy when writing and compiling your application materials like SOP, cover letter etc.

Patience would be essential when waiting on recommendation letters and they are not forthcoming.

Patience would be needed when

waiting on that admission/scholarship decision. Hastiness is not a good virtue as it concerns scholarship applications.

Remember, I said that this journey is riddled with disappointments, it takes the ability to endure difficult situations to be able to scale through.

3) Attitude of improvement: One important attitude for a scholarship enthusiast is the attitude of improvement – the quality of being better than before.

As a scholarship enthusiast, you must understand the need to be better than the last time you applied

for a scholarship (that was not successful).

Every scholarship enthusiast must have a consistent attitude of examining themselves and reviewing their scholarship profile on a consistent basis.

4) Attitude of optimism: As a scholarship enthusiast, you must

be positive or optimistic in attitude.

Let me share a personal story. I never attempted the GRE from 2014 until 2017 because I doubted myself. I might not have been able to come to the US today if I did not change my mindset that the GRE is “passable”.

Do not limit your ability. Do not be pessimistic when applying to a scholarship. Be full of belief that if you meet the necessary requirements, the scholarship committee would select you.

5) Attitude of independence: A scholarship enthusiast must possess the attitude of “Do it

Yourself”. If you cut corners with scholarship application, you will finally end up being burnt.

There is nothing as soothing as achieving success with one’s efforts. This is what makes you a wholesome scholar – and this makes sharing your experience very easy.

Others will not always be available to help you, why not cultivate the attitude of doing things on your own? Being independent starts with doing intensive research. On your own you can google how to write a good CV, SOP, cover letter etc.

On your own, you can search for scholarship and funding opportunities. If you consistently wait on others before making your moves, opportunities will pass you by and you will not be aware.

Just like I said earlier, this list is not exhaustive as there are other

attitudes that a scholarship enthusiast must possess. However, installing the attitudes shared here as part of your mindset would help you in your scholarship pursuit. I wish you all the best.

Oluwaseun M. Ajayi @matajson
PhD candidate – Joshua Benoit’s laboratory @uofcincy

Thank you for reading

You can drop your questions now.

Scholar @matajson is ready to take them.