The Application Process

So I know you're at home scratching your head wondering, "How would someone like me apply for such a prestigious award?"

Well, I've broken it down into 10 easy steps for you. Yes, even you can apply for a Rotary Ambassadorial Scholarship!

Step 1: Contact your University's Scholarship Coordinator. He or she will be able to provide you with better resources than this journal will.
**Don't go to a University or have a less than qualified scholarship coordinator? Go to the Rotary International website for advice on how to apply.

Step 2: Download a Rotary Foundation Ambassadorial Scholarship Application from the Rotary website listed above.

Step 3: Read the application.

Step 4: Get to crackin' on those essays! Be like Santa and check them twice!

Step 5: Find two people who know you WELL and can write a great recommendation letter for you. I asked two of my supervisors to help me out...





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Step 6: Going to a country that doesn't speak English? Better have that Language Ability form filled out by your Foreign Language Professor!

Step 7: Get your transcripts.

Step 8: This is probably the most important step of all. RESEARCH ROTARY!!! You don't expect them to give you a scholarship if you don't know anything about them do you? Rotary International is the world's first service club organization most notably known for their PolioPlus Program. They believe in service above self, and promote goodwill and peace. This is only a fraction of how awesome Rotary is- it will be your responsibility to learn more :)

Step 9: Get in contact with your sponsor Rotary Club and ask if you could attend one of their meetings. Go ahead, they wont bite :) Rotarians are extremely helpful, nice, and friendly people (they also like to have a good time, so get ready to have some fun!). Be prepared to give a short bio on yourself and where you would like the Ambassadorial Scholarship to take you.

Step 10: Turn in ALL of the required materials on the Application form before the deadline. Once this is done, you will be in contact with your Rotary Scholarship Coordinator for your district who will tell you more about the process.


...I hope I'm not missing a step. As a precaution, be sure to keep up the communication between yourself and your Rotary Scholarship Coordinator :)


Good luck!

It all started with a letter

Back in Fall 2006 when I was a senior at the University of North Texas, I received a letter from a certain Dr. James Duban, the director of the Office for Nationally Competitive Scholarships. Of course at the time I didn't realize I had a letter, but thanks to my mother (who enjoys opening and reading my mail) I was sure to find out.

The letter mentioned a scholarship that would allow a person to study abroad for a year. They wanted someone who was involved in the community, liked to help people, and could be an ambassador of goodwill and cultural understanding. I don't remember the letter word for word, but if I was selected I would be awarded $23,000 for the 2008/2009 academic year.

...woah woah woah... what? I'm involved in the community. I like to help people. I like to travel and explore different cultures. Is this for real?

Yes. It is for real. And it's called A Rotary Ambassadorial Scholarship.

Sign me up!

And here I am now. :D



...


Okay, so there's a lot more to it than that. A LOT more, but I will first start off by saying it is ALL worth it.

My first requirement was to attend a scholarship meeting held by Dr. Duban. The meeting would explain the Ambassadorial Scholarship in further detail, outline the steps I would need to take to apply for it, and answer any questions I might have. So I e-mailed Dr. Duban, told him I was interested... and found out the scholarship meeting was at a time I could not attend. :/

"Ah well, can't make the meeting. Guess this whole thing wasn't meant to be," I thought. After all, you can't understand what you're missing if you never had it to begin with. To be honest, I wasn't too broken up about it.

But then I received another e-mail from Dr. Duban talking about having a make up meeting (something a bit smaller) for those who couldn't make it the first time. Wouldn't you know it, I could make this one!

***Looking back, I consider this to be my first "sign". I'll go into this in a later post.***

...I don't remember if I skipped class to attend the meeting or if I could actually make it skip-free, but the point is I was at that meeting. If your university offers something like this- GO! Dr. Duban went into great detail about Rotary as well as the whole application process; from what to write almost paragraph for paragraph in the essays, to who to contact in your designated Rotary Club, to what to wear to your club and where you can get it at a discounted price :) He then took it a step further and told us to e-mail him our essays so he could check, double check, and triple check them.

I'm telling you, this man is DEDICATED! If you go to UNT, find Dr. Duban and buy him lunch... maybe a beer too (if he drinks).

The months that followed this meeting were filled with school, working at FEMA, writing my essays, GLAD (the Gay and Lesbian Association of Denton- a club at UNT. At the time I was the Vice President- a full time job within itself at times), contacting my Rotary Club, looking up study institutions, re-writing my essays and still finding time to have fun. Why am I telling you this? Because despite life happening, I made an effort to apply. Trust me, if I could find the time you can too.

Besides, if you want life to be interesting you gotta take steps to make it that way :)

In the beginning...

there was darkness.


But after that (much much later I might add- in a well lit time) I came along. I wont go into the finer details of the last 22 years of my life- but you WILL hear about the last 21 months (or at least parts of it) as well as the next few years.

Aren't you lucky?! :D

Before I go into great detail about how I came to be in the position I'm in now there are a few things you need to know.

1). My name is Alexis but I go by Alex.
2). I know French... euh... plutôt.
3). I love to travel.
4). I love to help people.
5). I can't cook.
Correction: I'm too lazy to cook.
6). I like dumpster diving.
7). I like to laugh as well as make other people laugh.
8). In 2 months I'll be in Switzerland thanks to Rotary International