Earlier I published a blog entry about several scholarships that I had seen that were available to folks interested in aviation. I received a comment to that post that I chose not to publish: "hi,linda,how can i get scholarship to study piloting/aeronautacal engineering,am a male in [a foreign country],pls lets chat on ymsger" The message also included this person's email address and personal blog, which I won't print to protect his privacy.
It's great that so many people want to get into flying; that's what Girls With Wing is all about, right? But recently I updated my scholarship page on the GWW website to reflect the frustration I have with messages being sent to me that say little more than the above comment. 'Course, misspelling my name earns 0 points!
This is not because I think I'm special and deserve special treatment. This is a basic fact of life. Ever hear the saying, "You never get a second chance to make a first impression?"
There are a lot of my opinions on my scholarship page that I had some reluctance posting because I don't want to turn anyone away from the organization. However, after numerous times of people firing off short impolite emails, I couldn't resist. If you are an individual looking for financial aid or guidance, Please, please, please! take any and all communications seriously. In other words, be polite and use proper grammar and spelling (especially the name of the organization!). Tell the recipient a little bit about you and what specifically you are seeking. I am a pretty busy woman (if you read this blog you'll know this) and do not have time to find money for everyone. You can do a google search on aviation scholarships just as well as I can.
When you find something you are interested in/may qualify for, read the information carefully and then if you have further questions, contact the organization. The vast majority of emails to me miss the two MAJOR characteristics of the GWW scholarship: it is announced in August, and there is no official application form. When I get an email asking about either of these, I know the sender is not really interested in the GWW scholarship, they are just firing off emails. That's fine if you make a base template and personalize it to the specific organization - keeping in mind all of the requirements of that application.
Be considerate and conscientious. Aviation is a small community, where "who you know" plays a major role. You need to make good impressions on people and maintain thos relationships.
Read more of my advice at http://girlswithwings.com/scholarshipinfo.html.
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