For DonorsFor Applicants

McGovern Legacy Scholarship

$1,000
1 winner$1,000
Awarded
Application Deadline
Dec 6, 2023
Winners Announced
Jan 6, 2024
Education Level
High School, Undergraduate
Eligibility Requirements
Education Level:
High school or undergraduate student
Background:
Foster care experience
State:
Georgia, Alabama, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, or Florida

Students in foster care face many challenges that the majority of their peers don’t have to worry about when pursuing higher education. 

Kids who are aging out of foster care, in particular, face barriers due to their lack of familial support and little to no safety net when stepping out into adulthood. With this background, coming up with the funds for college can be difficult or even impossible.

This scholarship aims to support students who have been in foster care to make their transition to college easier.

Any high school or undergraduate student in Georgia, Alabama, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, or Florida who is in foster care or has aged out of foster care may apply for this scholarship.

To apply, tell us about your plans to overcome the struggles you’ve faced to create a new future.

Selection Criteria:
Ambition, Drive, Impact
Published June 20, 2023
Essay Topic

Describe your plans to overcome the challenges of your family history and create a new legacy.

400–600 words

Winning Application

Brianna Shreve
Northside Christian SchoolSaint George, SC
When I was five years old, I was placed in foster care. My parents were both struggling with substance abuse and I went through a major family situation that no child should ever have to go through. It has made me a strong person today but, even at the age of five, broke me down. I went through two different homes during my time in foster care and thankfully was blessed with amazing foster parents and foster siblings. I learned so much from all of them. I felt so alone for the first year at least. I, like many other kids, was told that I would be returning to my family soon. However, almost four years later, I was still in care. The Lord led an amazing family to me soon after and they eventually adopted me. That was such a turning point in my life. I am now on the road to academic success. Throughout that first year, as I mentioned before, I felt so lost. Even though I had amazing foster parents, they just felt like strangers to me. However, the schools in the area offered me so many opportunities. My teachers became like my moms. They took me under their wings, knowing my situation. One of them even went above and beyond to help me make a smooth transition to a new school. I was being transferred in the middle of my first-grade year and my current teacher happened to have a sister who taught first grade at the school where I was going to be going. So, my current teacher took the morning off and came to my new school to walk me in and make sure I was situated. She even came several times during the rest of the year to check on me and make sure that I was doing well. She became the person that I wanted to be. I am now planning to be a middle education math teacher. I want to be the person that I needed throughout my childhood. I want to make a career out of loving kids and helping them prosper in their own lives no matter their home lives. Home situations can make some kids just want to get a job and live their lives and not pursue further education. I intend to break the cycle in my family and become the person that my younger self would have looked up to.

FAQ

When is the scholarship application deadline?

The application deadline is Dec 6, 2023. Winners will be announced on Jan 6, 2024.