Scholarship Matters A Parent's Guide to College and Private Scholarships
For Joan C. Ryan this book is the realization of a dream and the culmination of research that spans over twenty years. It is telling that she lists her most important positions as daughter, mother, mother-in-law, and grandmother. Scholarship Matters is, indeed, a labor of love. The author was inspired by her own life experiences. Unlike some other how-to books, this one is completely road-tested. It includes the steps that Joan, herself, found to be most successful. She went back to school herself at 47, attending Northern Essex Community College in Haverhill, Massachusetts from 1989 to 1994. Before she sat in her first college class, she had secured five private scholarships for herself. Joan then studied Advanced Grant Writing at the University of New Hampshire in 1994. In 1995, she completed the Papoutsy Business Seminar for Women Entrepreneurs. As a single mother, she knew that finding and securing college scholarship funding for her children was tantamount. Working as a team with her daughter Catherine, Joan turned her expertise into a fool proof system for applying and securing scholarship money to defray the high cost of Catherine s education. Over the years, Joan met other parents facing the daunting task of funding their children s education. She decided to use her experience to help them. In 2004, she started her own consulting business, The Scholarship Counselor, Preparer for College Admissions and Private Scholarships, in Hampton, New Hampshire. Since then, she has served as a successful mentor, helping other parents to achieve what she did for her own family. This book is the natural progression for Joan Ryan. Drawing on her own experiences as well as those of other parents, Joan has created a practical tool for parents feeling at sea with the overwhelming process of college admissions. Scholarship Matters demystifies the process and makes the journey so much easier. Joan C. Ryan has received the following awards: Thanks Be to Grandmother Winifred Foundation Award, Jeanette Rankin National Scholarship Mary Myers Award, Northern Essex Community College Alumni Award, Fitch Memorial Scholarship Award, and the Scholarship Foundation of America Semi-Finalist. She was also chosen as one of the Women of the 21st Century, by the Harvard-Radcliffe Schlesinger Library Committee.