Reaching Lifelong Goals

I have spent some more time searching for Non Traditional Student Scholarship information.   There is a lot of good information out there.  I realize that you all are probably searching around the same types of sites, but I will list what I find useful here.    (It never hurts to get info out to fellow non trads…)   Today I found some great information on a site called Fresch Free Scolarship Search.   This page of the site is specifically for Non Traditional Students.    They list some great information listing 10 good points about college funding for non trads.   This page is a good starting place for your college funding journey.   I have filed for the FAFSA myself, but did not qualify for financial aid.   Of course, they will give me all kinds of loans…just what a 53 year old college grad should get into.   It is VERY important that you file for the FAFSA program – now.    It is a beginning point for many grants, scholarships and work study programs.   Many base your need on the results of the FAFSA alone.

The first step that all Non Trads should take is going to the FAFSA Site and get started.   Most of the financial aid you will be eligible for starts here.   Read the instructions carefully.   There are some hoops to jump through, but what is on the other side is well worth it.  A related site that is worth checking out is Students.gov .    This is a very comprehensive website that is put out for all students, both old and young.   The resources available at this site make it worth bookmarking and referring to later.   I found that it has a listing of all 50 states and the agencies available in each.   Search your state and see what is available, you might be surprised!!

Some of my fellow Non Trads will be heading off to school next week  or maybe after Labor Day, but it is never too late to start putting together your plan for college funding.   I will continue to search out Non Traditional Student resources and post them here for your information.   Remember, Non Trad Students are a large portion of student bodies all over the Nation!!   We need to help each other out.   I am going to put together a short brochure that I can place in the information kiosk at Linn Benton Community College that will list online Non Trad Resources.    Take this idea and pass it on.   Many of our fellow older students may not be utilizing the resources available on the Internet to their best advantage.

Let’s begin our Nontraditional Student Scholarship journey together.   I understand that scholarship applications can be a scary thing, essays and all that…   There are thousands of dollars available every year for specific Non Trad student scholarships.   I have been gathering websites to review and pass along to my fellow students.   I spent some time speaking with the scholarship office at my local community college here in Oregon and learned some interesting facts.   1.  Many scholarships go unclaimed every year.   2.   Some students make applying for scholarships a FULL TIME JOB!  3.   You need to be on time and complete in your applications.     I learned of one female student who received an $11,000  scholarship because she was the ONLY person who applied for it!!!    My adviser stated that to be effective, you need to keep good records, a time schedule and apply, apply, apply….

A quick search on google brings up 1.45 MILLION hits!   Of course, that includes a bunch of non starters, pass them up.   But one can see that there is some real possibilities out there if you just apply.    There are many sites out there that  will do some of the work for you, for a fee.    I am still trying to weed out the scams and present any of this type of program worth looking at here in this blog category.    Keep up with me on this,  it looks like it will be a bumpy ride!

Schoolscholarshps.org has a great article specifically for Non Traditional Students.   It is a basic overview of the process, with some good points on how to go about the search.    This will be a good place to start looking.   This article answers some good questions.    I highly recommend this article.

College Scholarshps.org is another good place to start.   Again, this article is pointed at Non Trads and our specific needs.   This article has links to some of the major scholarship programs out there for Non Traditional Students.    Not as much information about how to apply, but some solid links to real programs available.   It will be worth your time to look at this site.

Financial aid in general is a topic worthy of an entire website  (they are out there….)   Each institution has financial aid offices with resources for students.   Many community colleges and universities have local scholarships available as well.   A quick search on your school website should link you to them.    Many of these college specific scholarships are broken down into application periods throughout the year.   If you have already missed Fall term, do not give up.    There will be another deadline coming up soon….don’t let this one slip away.    I know that going back to school is hard enough without adding this on too, but take advantage of all that is offered.    There is help out there for Non Traditional Students, coming from many different directions.   Encourage all of your fellow non trads to get involved on the Internet with the growing number of Non Traditional Student resources available.   Just give it quick google….   Search for “lifelong goals”  and you will find this blog listed!

I did some more digging in the wonderful Non Trad website I told everyone about a while back called Howtostudy.org.   This is a great website, and take some time to look at the great links that are there.   I found two specific ones for History Majors.   Being a Non Traditional Student majoring in History, I was drawn to a couple of great sites.  These are great resources for study skills, primary and secondary sources and some other goodies.

The History Guide compiled by John Kries.  Is a wonderful site with great information.   He also includes a number of his own lectures about European history.   Of special note is his comprehensive autobiography where he chronicles his own journey toward a graduate degree in History.  The site has an extensive list of primary sources to be found on the internet.   I will be digging through those sites for some time to come.    This is a  stand alone site and not a blog, so this information is out there for  everyone to utilize.

Reading, Writing, and Researching for History: A Guide for College Students by  Patrick Rael, Bowdoin College.   Here is another great site for any student, but it’s focus is on History.   Information on research, writing papers, evaluating sources and historical arguments.   This is quite a comprehensive website and I am very impressed.   The information on how to evaluate a historical arguments is very well thought out and you really get a feel for what researching history is all about.   Again, I will be using this site often during my Non Traditional Student journey over the next couple of years.

Non Traditional Students need all the help they can get sometimes.   I hope that as this blog site grows, I can help my fellow non trads in many ways.   Being out of school for 30 years, lots of things have changed.    One big change is the Internet.   The wealth of information on the net is staggering….sorting out the good from the bad info is the key.   You can find online copies of many primary source documents.   Years ago, the only way to research this material was to travel or mail requests all over the globe.   Now, many Universities have their collections online, you need only to search in the right spot…

I will be adding more resource sites to my blog.   If I feel that a fellow Non Traditional Student can benefit in some way, I will pass the information along.     Keep enjoying Summer, some of you will be back in school in just a couple of weeks.   I still have most of the month of September before my Fall Term starts here in Oregon.       Until next time….

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Being a non traditional student and a History Major is an interesting combination.   I’ve been around while history has been made, unlike some of my fellow classmates who were not even born when the Berlin Wall came down, or the Challenger Space Shuttle was lost.  Older students have a different perspective in a History class.  I find it very interesting how some of the younger students I come into contact with view history.   They do not look at events such as the JFK assassination as a person who was personally effected by it.  (Granted, I was only in the 2nd grade, but I still remember my parents being glued to the black and white TV and being very upset…)    Now, more often than not, my fellow classmates learned all “they needed to know” from the Oliver Stone film.   (These same kids are getting their current event news from the Daily Show with Jon Stewart…)

However, I digress,  my main topic here is a short history lesson about Red Fokkers.   My screen name on the Internet for a number of years now has been REDFOKKER.   This comes from my main interest in history, World War One Aviation.   I have chosen to specialize in one of the German Air Force pilots that just happened to fly Fokker airplanes painted RED.   Everyone has some knowledge about the “Red Baron” Manfred Von Richthofen who scored 80 victories before his death in 1918 (not by Snoopy…)    My focus of study in my History career will be on Germany’s second highest scoring ace ERNST UDET.

Ernst Udet (1896-1941) was a German fighter ace who achieved 62 victories during World War One.  Udet entered the German Army 1914 before becoming a fighter pilot.   He fought in Jastas 15, 37, 11 and 4 finally becoming the commander of JG 11 fighter squadron.   Ultimately being forced out of active combat in late September 1918 from injuries sustained in action, he survived the war and became quite character in the years before WWII.   He joined the Luftwaffe in 1935 and eventually became a General Officer in charge of aircraft development.   His life ended tragically as he “committed” suicide in 1941 over controversy surrounding Germany’s losses during the “Battle of Britain”.

Ernst Udet’s aircraft were painted red later in the war and all carried the marking “LO!” in honor of his girlfriend, Eleonore Zink.  The Fokker DVII was a very advanced fighter for it’s day.  It was the only single weapon that was spelled out to be destroyed in the Versaille Treaty ending the war.

There have been over 200 books written about the “Red Baron” Richthofen, but there have been very few about Ernst Udet.   His colorful career during and after WWI will make an interesting study for me in my History career.    My goal is to write the definitive text about Ernst Udet, his aircraft and his life.

My lifetime love of history has been a driving force in my Non Traditional Student journey.   Reaching lifelong goals is more than just a spiffy blog title.   I hope to post more blog entries that will chronicle my ongoing research over the next few years toward the publishing of my book.  History is my passion, and has been most of my life.   Now as a History Major at Oregon State University, I will finally be “reaching lifelong goals”.

My summer term grades have finally been posted.   Being the typical Non Traditional Student, I was hoping for another 4.00!!   Had to settle for a 3.60 this term.   This keeps my aggregate GPA at a 3.83 over two terms back in school.   Maybe I have set my expectations to high to start with, but its all about goals, right?   I had to struggle for my “B” grade in Algebra, but I’m not going to let that happen again.   I had never received a 4.00 in my life and my first term back was quite a personal accomplishment….but wait, I can’t remember even getting in the 3.60 range back in High School either…   Guess I’m doing well, I just need to focus on each class specifically.  I’ve been doing some research and blog surfing and have found some great resources that you should look into.

One fantastic site I’ve found is How to Study.org, well worth a good look at.   There are fantastic sections about goal setting, organization, specific subject study guides and  much more.   I’m impressed.   I’ve been digging around in the site all day and have a ton of new skills to try out in the Fall.  Another great site that I found today was www.studentagain.com This is another great site for Non trads to find study skills and resources.   They have a great guide to buying and selling textbooks that is very important right now as we get ready for fall term.  I’ll continue to post study skills information in this category on Reaching Lifelong Goals.com

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