I blogged recently about our daughter Sara's financial problems regarding a study abroad program in France this spring, February to June. We cannot help her pay the additional $10,000 expense at this time; in fact, she is funding her entire school year at the University of Michigan with student loans and a collection of jobs. She cannot wait to go until next spring when our finances will undoubtedly be better, as my business continues to grow, since she plans to complete her degree in December, a full semester early.
Well, the university emailed that Northwest Airlines was offering up two round trip tickets to students who would be doing study abroad in the spring - that's two tickets for ALL the students at Michigan who are planning to leave the country for their once-in-a-lifetime experience. In other words, a shot in the dark. The requirements were simple. Write an essay about why you believed you deserved the funding.
I didn't get to read what she wrote but she gave me the gist of it when she sent it. Essentially, she spoke of our time living in England from 1996-1998 and how it was always stressed that they were representing the United States everywhere they went in public - quite the responsibility for 3 kids who were 3, 6, and 8 when we arrived there. She said she would like to go back as an adult now and do precisely the same thing. She mentioned that she was funding her own education this year, noting that her mother is a realtor and her father is an auto industry engineer. (She may have embedded violin music...she's pretty clever.) The fact that she is a fabulous writer pursuing an English Lit degree had to help her. Several years of high school and college French figured prominently as well. This trip will result in a minor in Art History, so she noted that our family had visited many, many museums in Europe and stateside through the years, along with many of the more kid-friendly trips to Legoland Windsor, Cedar Point, and Hershey Park.
Clearly she made her case - she won! Sara, you're going to Paris! Maybe even Disneyland! (EuroDisney, that is) All airfare expenses paid! Au revoir, bon voyage! Don't forget to write....
Sara's adventures will be chronicled on a blog she has established just for this purpose. Please visit her at http://www.saraanneinparis.blogspot.com/. Tell her I sent you and write it in French if you are able - she can use all the practice she can get!
Comments (4)Subscribe to CommentsComment