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 :)