$250 Scholarship
Spring 2015 was only our second semester offering a scholarship for students that completed several tasks, including attending a Financial Foundations workshop and writing an essay. We would like to thank our sponsor for the scholarship, CashCourse, for providing a grant to make this possible.
Also, we would like to thank all of our scholarship applicants for participating in the Financial Foundations program this Spring semester. We enjoyed reading your essays and we would like to share the winner’s essay below.
Congratulations Morgan Frey!
James W. Frick boldly proclaims, “Don’t tell me where your priorities are. Show me where you spend your money and I’ll tell you what they are.” Transitioning into college is a time of personal transformation and beginning a life apart from parental guidance and a sphere of organized life. College challenges the very nature of ones identity and enables one to begin to form stronger beliefs and an understanding of the world, in a new and diverse light. Through the financial foundations workshop and taking time to process my beliefs about money, I have come to find and am challenged by my own perceptions. Money is essential for the basic needs of all humans but can become something of great focus. The challenge that Frick presents is one of intentional effort and practice, coinciding with the verse in the Bible, Luke 12:34, “where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”
From a very young age, my parents have instilled into my being the truth that the Lord will provide everything that we need. Growing up, I have been amazed to witness the faithfulness of our God in providing everything. Since coming to college, my parents have given me an apportioned amount of money each month, which has tested my heart and made me critically process where my money is going and how it is being used. Many times, I have had to stop myself, surrender the money, and again give it over to the Lord, because I sometimes begin to worry if I will have enough. Due to the wealth and position that my family and I find ourselves, I am challenged to be a good steward of the resources that I have been given. After the workshop about the importance of credit and the reality of identity theft, I have learned to be cautious and responsible about spending. Through the workshop, I was challenged to purchase items that are a necessity, while being aware and discerning about luxury or non-essential items. While it is crucial to have a stable credit, I was also convicted about how we must continually give the Lord our money and seek Him in areas of giving and trust. He will provide, and we must respond in stewardship.
The activity of creating a budget is of great importance. Budgeting is central to becoming a steward of the resources given to oneself. Using and creating a budget 
enables individuals to visually picture and understand where their money is going, and it allows them to spend less time worrying about spending and more time living in the freedom of knowing how much they can spend.
As a college student, I believe that financial education is vital in becoming an informed citizen of our world and a responsible individual. With great change occurring, it has been helpful in my transition process to learn about and to be engaged in financial responsibilities and realities, both positive and negative, that are a result of money. As stated by the quote above, money is a determinate of our priorities. Let us, as college students, be people of selflessness and stewardship.