Volunteer Hours Can Lead to Scholarship Money

By Trena Allen

Students who volunteer more than 40 hours per year can win The Volunteer Rush Scholarship. The easy-to-meet criteria make the scholarship easy to get.

The Volunteer Rush Scholarship was created by the students for the students. ASCSN Student Government partnered with CSN Serves and developed the scholarship to get students involved in CSN and their community. The scholarship is funded by ASCSN.

Students who are enrolled in a minimum of six credits, volunteer 40 or more hours during the school year and submit their hours to CSN Serves by April 4, 2015 qualify for the scholarship.

ASCSN will award 20 scholarships of $250 each and winners will be honored at the end-of-the-year banquet.

Nierada Nititadakul, ASCSN secretary, developed the scholarship and explains what inspired her.

“When I joined student government they told me to think of a project,” Nititadakul said. “I looked into my heart and tried to see what I was passionate about, what would I appreciate as a student. I wanted it to be about giving back to the community and the idea sparked in communication class.”

The new scholarship program has made a difference for students already.

Last year scholarship recipient Rikki Zulyevic was so happy to win the scholarship doing something she loves, which is working with horses and people. “[The scholarship was] an incentive to volunteer. I volunteer because this can benefit me in the long run. I want to be in the Peace Corps and volunteering helps me get used to helping others.”

To compete for this scholarship, students must volunteer. CSN Serves is the perfect opportunity for students to get involved. CSN Serves connects students with several volunteer agencies including American Heart Association, The Salvation Army and Habitat for Humanity, among others. Students can serve monthly short-term stints. The days of service change every month in order to help different non-profits, according to CSN Serves.

“Students are already volunteering; this is our way of helping them pay it forward,” said Alejandra Romero, service learning coordinator for CSN Serves. “Students were doing volunteer work without recognitions or awards, so I said let’s expand it.”

Contact CSN Serves for submissions at www.csn.edu/csnserves.