Hi,
Welcome to the documented efforts of an Ivy League student's attempt to collect corporate sponsorships, which I’ve succinctly titled: Scholar Sponsors. Coming up on my senior year of my undergraduate career, I came up with the idea of Scholar Sponsors as a unique way to rid myself of financial burden and oppressive debt as well as possibly lay the groundwork for a unique type of scholarship in the near-future. It's no secret that the pricing and loan system of higher education is somewhat broken and further exacerbated by tuition generally rising two to three times as fast as inflation. These escalating costs leave many students saddled with pricey school loans that are inescapable and often take tens of years to pay off. In fact, the median debt for all(i) bachelor’s degree recipients was $22,380 (nytimes). As a student myself, it’s easy to relate to such situations. With a goal as noble as higher education, I believe students should have access to as many financial opportunities as possible even if they must create such opportunities themselves. Thus, I decided to take up this unique, innovative campaign to raise funds for school.
Depending on my success in soliciting sponsorships from some of my favorite companies, I hope to be able to evolve my efforts into a scholarship program that parallels professional corporate sponsorship such as those in sports. Though there are many intricacies to a plan this ambitious, the initial focus (and topic of this blog) is merely the interaction with the companies behind some of my favorite products and their corporate goodwill (or lack thereof).
A lot of questions arise with an endeavor of this type, so here are the basic FAQs:
What’s the Big Idea?
Well, Scholar Sponsors refers to my efforts to attain corporate sponsorships for my final year of college. Yes, I said sponsorships(i) ; The same type of agreements doled out to idolized sports organizations by the millions, albeit, on a much smaller scale. This ambitious undertaking will give me the opportunity to engage with companies that produce some of my favorite products, test what most would consider a fleeting goodwill in corporate America, initiate plans for an innovative spin on traditional student scholarships, and of course, relieve myself of my own student debt and financial strains.
Who Are You?
I’m simply an average guy, for the most part. I attend an Ivy League institution and am in my final year of undergraduate study.
Are You For Real?
Absolutely! I'm as real as student debt and I have no problem aiming high. After all, it's impossible to attain anything without trying and I have faith that by earnestly reaching out you can be pleasantly surprised by who responds.
Why Should Companies Sponsor You?
Perhaps my opinion is a biased one, but there are a lot of reasons, I'd say. The most obvious reasons for the sake of involved companies are that they immediately benefit from being a part of a historic goodwill effort that will no doubt reflect positively on them for as long as this blog remains online. Additionally, the power of such favorable coverage would only be exacerbated as I work on building an innovative scholarship program designed around the idea of Scholar Sponsorships.
What Will You Do With The Money?
Alleviate myself of all of my student debt and forthcoming fees and [god forbid] have a social life in addition to building more methods for other students to be able to do the same.
Why Don't You Just Get A Job?
Part-time jobs are certainly a time-tested method to pay for school, but they simply can't cover everything and if I stay enslaved to them even during my final year, I'll be struggling to help myself so much I will hardly be able to help other students in similar positions. Part-time work is fine, but there's nothing wrong with being creative and aiming high and I'm more than willing to try.
Above all else, I simply want my final year to be enjoyable (lessened financial strain) as well as fulfilling (beginning a project with the potential to help others). With Scholar Sponsors, I hope to achieve both!
