Tales from College: Episode 6

 Tales from College: How I Obtained a Scholarship of $6,000

By Inaya Ali Syed

Hi everybody! Last week, I am sorry that there was no post. Today, I want to give unsolicited advice on how to win a scholarship, and how I won $6,000.00. 
The day was July 26th, 2023. I was doing my job when I received a notification from my email. "Huh?" I exclaimed. I opened the email, and this is what it stated:

I clicked on the link which allowed me to open up a scholarship form. "Alright, well, I can't do it right now. Maybe I will complete it all when I come home." I thought to myself. I notice this at the bottom of the form:


So, I gathered all the materials they requested for this. I got my parents' tax return, a scanned copy of my acceptance letter to NYIT, and my transcript. All I had to do was write a statement. "What do I write about?" I thought to myself, with my laptop open on a blank page. I was never the best at writing, but I was decent at it. I decided to write about my experiences as a Pakistani American and my goals. I decided to email all this to the company, stating below:
I also mailed them. I received multiple phone calls between the months of July and August, requesting a letter of recommendation from a professor. I never received one, so they never received one. I was sure I was not going to get the scholarship for months. 

On September 13th, I received a call after class. "Hello?" I asked. "Hi, is this Inaya Syed?" the other person said. "My name is ..., I was wondering if you would be able to attend our luncheon if you're selected for the SAAAI Scholarship." "Uh..." I responded. "Yes." "Great! We will let you know in the next few days if you won, " the other person replied.

Then, on September 14th, I received this email. "Re: Scholarship Notification from SAAAI" was the subject line, and I thought "Great, they are going to reject me." Nope! Instead, it stated this:

I finally won! The next week, I attended the luncheon. It was a great experience, and I am so glad I decided to apply to this. 
My personal statement is below. 

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