For DonorsFor Applicants

Bold Financial Freedom Scholarship

Funded by
$500
1 winner$500
Awarded
Application Deadline
Jun 25, 2022
Winners Announced
Jul 25, 2022
Education Level
Any

Financial freedom can ease much of the stress of everyday life.

In an effort to achieve financial freedom, many people turn to higher education in order to broaden their job prospects. 

However, in doing so, many students take on substantial debt. The total student loan debt in the US has surpassed $1.7 billion and is continuing to grow.

The Bold Financial Freedom Scholarship exists to help one student take a step towards financial freedom by helping lessen their college costs.

All students from any field of study may apply for this scholarship. To apply, tell us about the most beneficial piece of financial advice you have ever heard.

Selection Criteria:
Ambition, Need, Boldest Bold.org Profile
Published March 24, 2022
Essay Topic

What's the most helpful piece of financial advice you ever received?

250–300 words

Winning Application

Ehi Ukpokwu
Watkins Mill HighGaithersburg, MD
I spent one afternoon typing my essays, mathematics homework, and review notes for the day as my parents were eating dinner. Aloud, I wished in front of them for a house of my own when I was older, to check out of the hotel we long-resided and become financially self-sufficient. Then my dad, with his business major and his decades of wisdom plus the pain of our family's tormenting difficulties, offered me some of the best words I'd ever heard about money management. "Cut your coat according to your size." Known to many as not biting off more than one can chew, this advice will guide my economic planning, saving, spending, investment, and income sources as long as I remind myself of it. Considering I am no stranger to unwise misusage of my allowance/poor spending impulse control/saving habits, I wince, remembering my carelessness. Once, I squandered the $100 my parents generously gave me on vending machine comfort snacks. Like many aspects of my lifestyle, COVID-19's repercussions forced me to pivot (here, monetarily/fiscally), which I'm grateful for. Today, I try to store every dollar I receive for needs such as college tuition. Because my first introduction to the professional world has proven that earning income demands a steadfast work ethic, I recognize that my earnings must outpace my expenditures since a paycheck tends to arrive slower. I cannot afford, literally, to live above my means. Costly entertainment and goods won't enter my budget until I establish a sturdier financial profile. To meet my thrift goals, I'll learn skills like certain home repairs that prevent avoidable price obligations or payments for someone else's services. "Cut your coat according to your size" was liberating. I mustn't gratuitously burden myself. Freedom is not spending without restraint but less baggage down the already-unpredictable road.
Cindy Chen
Columbia University in the City of New YorkNew York, NY

FAQ

When is the scholarship application deadline?

The application deadline is Jun 25, 2022. Winners will be announced on Jul 25, 2022.