Olin’s scholarship is an important tradition of this school. It recognizes all of Olin’s students as meritorious, and puts them on equal ground. It gives the students of Olin a fierce loyalty to the institution and the freedom to experiment with their education and education style.
The scholarship affects me, personally, very strongly; it’s not why I came here, but it is how. I know I’m not the only student who couldn’t afford Olin without the full scholarship. And having more pressure on a job through the college years would hurt the experience and grades of any student.
As we are all well aware, the scholarship is dwindling. And no matter the cause, we need to bring it back. I don’t mean we, as in Olin, or the administration, but we, the students. No one cares about the scholarship more than we do, and a grassroots demonstration of support is a first step.
To this end, I will be placing change jars around the school, labeled “Fund to Restore the Scholarship”.
Will jars of change be enough money to pay for years of scholarships? Of course not. But they do a few very important things: they represent tangible effort towards a very real goal, and they send a message. I’m willing to put money where my mouth is, and by making it clear that we, the students, care about this issue, it’s possible that we will be able to gather support from outside, from higher up, from people with money.
And even if it’s slow, accumulated coins add up; this is an important and tangible commitment to change.