Amazing scholarships awarded in Granite Bay

   College acceptances – and rejections – are coming in and decision time is inching closer.
   But for some here at Granite Bay High School, that process has been made a little more complicated.
   The scholarship process helps many college prospects every year, and GBHS has its own host of big offers for students.
   One such offer comes from Rice University to Granite Bay senior Quincy Christian.
   “University of San Diego offered me 75 percent, University of Nevada, Reno offered me 80 percent and Rice University offered me 50 percent,” Christian said. “But Rice is more expensive so (the 50 percent is more money than the other offers).”
   Christian, a varsity swimmer at GBHS and Sierra Marlins, was awarded these scholarships for her efforts in swimming.
   The multiple scholarships lift the college fiscal responsibilities a great amount, but the decision making process was not made any less stressful for Christian.
   “(The scholarships) made my decision a lot harder,” Christian said. “It’s really hard to say no to money.”
   Soon after her scholarships were given, Christian attended the letter of intent signing day at GBHS – signing for Rice University.
   But though the money may be enticing, it comes with strings attached.
   In order to keep the scholarship, Christian has to maintain a level of athletic excellence that the school deems acceptable. Failure to meet that requirement can result in termination of the scholarship.
   But Christian isn’t the only GBHS student to be awarded a big scholarship. GBHS senior Spencer Kimes was awarded a number of them as well – though they were all based on academics instead of athletics.
   “I have received offers from many schools including tuition waived from Boise State and Idaho, as well as pretty large packages from University of the Pacific, California Lutheran University and University of Arizona,” Kimes said. “But the only school I really care about that offered me a scholarship was Purdue University, which gave me $10,000 per year to attend.”
   For Kimes, the scholarship process helped narrow down prospects, instead of complicating things like they did for Christian.
   “I am really only interested in Purdue’s offer, but (the scholarships have) helped since Purdue is a much cheaper school (now,) and it beat out Texas for that reason,” Kimes said. “Chances are good that I will accept my Purdue offer because it is a great engineering school which is my major and they show interest in me by offering me money.”
   But where Kimes took his scholarship offers seriously, Billy Marsden, a GBHS senior, has disregarded the offers he has received because he aims to shoot higher on the prestigious scale – though not without hesitation.
   “So far I’ve received (scholarships) for $13,000 a year at Emory University and (have been) offered $26,000 a year at The University of Miami,” Marsden said. “When you’re seriously considering money, it really makes you think about your offer and where you want to go. It’s about whether you want to save money or get the name recognition and education of a (more prestigious school).”
   Since receiving news from different schools, such as Northwestern and Duke, Marsden has chosen the more prestigious school instead of the money.
   Whatever you make of it, the college process is complicated. For some, the scholarship process makes things a little more complicated, for others a little less. But either way, to be awarded a scholarship of any kind is a honor.