Stimulate your Brain: STEM Scholarships & Internships

Middle school and High School are the preparation grounds for your future. But what happens after you receive your diploma? Graduating from high school signals the end of your childhood and the beginning of your adult life. This means the start of your journey to independence, bills and responsibilities. Most adults don’t expect you to leave home and be self-sufficient immediately; but you do need to be ready to accept the challenge. It’s never too early to prepare for post-graduation (or too late).

A post-high school education is your best plan for securing a stable future for yourself (Vo-Tech, Community college or university). For those of you interested in a career in Science, Technology, Engineering, or Math (STEM), a college education will be order. However, funding a college education is no simple matter. Getting accepted in the school of your dreams is not the end of the story. Financing your education takes planning – the sooner the better. When parents ask me about how to fund their children’s college education I tell them to start right now, even as early as middle school. The Federal Financial Aid form (FAFSA) is a perfect place to t start, but with the cost of education rising faster than inflation and the cost of living, Pell Grants and Students Loans will not be enough. Apply for competitive scholarships throughout middle and high school. If you’re in college, apply for additional scholarships as well as internship and mentoring programs.

Here are some announcements:

1. The Society of Wetland Scientists Diversity Program Undergraduate Mentoring Awards
This professional science society offers full travel awards to undergraduate students to attend its annual meeting. The 2010 meeting will be held June 27 – July 2, 2010 meeting in Salt Lake City, Utah.
Thanks to generous funding by the NSF, undergraduate students from underrepresented groups can receive wetland sciences career mentoring for at the annual meeting. Students must complete an application. In order to maximize the opportunity for interested students to apply, the deadline has been extended to January 30. Visit the website for details and the application.

Students from the 2009 SWS Conference. (This could be you!)

2. The 2010 Google Anita Borg Memorial Scholarship
Dr. Anita Borg (1949-2003) devoted her life to revolutionizing the way we think about technology and dismantling the barriers that keep women and minorities from entering the computing and technology fields.
Google is proud to announce the 2010 Google Anita Borg Memorial Scholarship, awarding a group of female students each a scholarship for the 2010-2011academic year. All finalists and scholarship recipients will also be invited to attend a 3-day Scholars' Retreat at the Googleplex in 2010. The Google Anita Borg Scholarship program is available to undergraduate or graduate female students studying computer science (or closely related field) at a university in Africa, Australia, Canada, Europe, the Middle East, New Zealand and the United States. The candidate must have a cumulative GPA of at least 3.5 on a 4.0 scale or 4.5 on a 5.0 scale or equivalent. Deadline to apply is February 1, 2010. For complete details for this and more scholarships for diverse students, please visit Google Scholarships
h/t Blacks Gone Geek

Additional Scholarships and Fellowships in various disciplines can be found at these sites.
a. The Multicultural Advantage - lists of scholarships and fellowships with upcoming deadlines.
b. Planning and Preparing for College – updates of Scholarships, Internships, and the college application process.