The stress of college is undeniable. High school seniors who wish to pursue their education must decide on a major (even though half of them will change it at least once after starting classes), apply to colleges, and then will be faced with the large and ever-rising price tag of tuition. Unsurprisingly, it has been known to induce several handfuls of mental breakdowns amongst members of the graduating class. The students of Sheboygan South High School, however, are a bit better off than students at other schools– we are blessed to have an outpouring of financial support from our community. On May 11, 2016, 83 South High seniors and their families gathered in our auditorium for the annual Scholarship Night. During a mere two and a half hours more than $700,000 were awarded to the more-than-deserving scholars. This is an overwhelming increase from just over $25,000 in 1982, which can be attributed to both generous community members and rising costs of tuition. “We are fortunate in the sense that when people have passed in our community, they arranged for their monies to be used to either set up trusts or scholarships to help future generations. Other communities may not be as fortunate,” shared school counselor and Scholarship Committee member Kevin Heling. “Our community sees how much postsecondary education costs have skyrocketed, and wants to ensure that students have some assistance for their next step!” On May 11 a total of 272 awards were handed out– 113 of which were scholarships and 159 were trusts. By definition a scholarship is a payment made toward a student’s education, commonly on the basis of academic achievement and moral character. A trust fund is similar, yet slightly different. At South High, the lawyers of the trusts tell the committee how many recipients there will be that year and how much money they will get. The committee then simply distributes the awards based on class rank. Many students received a mix of the two awards and were equally grateful for each.

As Brianna Damkot, a recipient of several scholarships, put it, “Having the privilege of receiving the money that I have is amazing. I will use it to the best of my advantage towards my education– without it, it would be very difficult to pay for college.” Trying to pay for college is a daunting task, and I speak for the Class of 2016 when I say thank you. Thank you to the donors and their families for generously gifting us with money so that we may pursue our education with as little holding us back as possible. Thank you to our teachers for rigorously preparing us ever since the day we entered preschool to one day impress colleges and committees with the ideas that we now possess. Thank you to our parents for raising us right and teaching us that hard work is something to strive for. You have all enabled us to pursue our dreams and inspire the next generation. And we will.