john-terada-spring-2011
Congratulations, John!
John wrote us a letter regarding his award:
Dear CoffeeForLess,
I am extremely thrilled and thankful for being a scholarship recipient this year! The financial support that is provided through the CoffeeForLess Scholarship will allow me to continually pursue my major degrees in Marketing and Government as well as my minors in Finance and Accounting at the University of Texas at Austin. Yet, this scholarship does more than just alleviate my cost of post-secondary education. As I had highlighted in my essay, there is an unexpected aspect of education that we often times take for granted. The informal education process, I strongly believe, is as valuable as my formal education in the classroom. Throughout my time in Texas, I have had the amazing ability to gain both formal and informal exposures to experiences and events that I would never have imagined. From helping a farmer in Turkey, providing workshops in Belize to technical students, to helping low-income families in Austin file their taxes, the opportunities that I have had in college have been endless. Thus, I continually want to pursue these informal opportunities for my leadership potential in the future and tremendous growth to be a well-rounded businessman and citizen of the world.
In addition to embarking on a trip to Belize to provide entrepreneurship workshops to technical students during spring break, I am also working on a tremendously exciting project in Brazil. This scholarship will specifically aid me in my journey to Brazil, where I am part of a student consulting organization, the Student Consulting International Organization, in which we are helping an Indian cancer center expand their operations to Brazil. Cancer is the second leading cause of death in the country, and while there is a universal healthcare system in place (Sistema Unico de Saude – SUS), the country faces a challenge providing outside the bounds of primary health care. As cancer is a fairly complex operation, funding and support toward cancer patients have been somewhat limited. Thus, it is an effort on my part and those of my teammates to create an opportunity for expanding services for oncology care to even more people in Brazil via this cancer center. We aim to effectively make recommendations to the cancer center so that they are able to provide utmost care to cancer patients with one of the most advanced, technological oncology tools.
Thus, my philosophy on my education is to obtain formal and informal learning experiences so that you can create positive change in the global community. With that emphasis, CoffeeForLess has given me a chance to continually pursue that goal, to be able to succeed academically via formal college education, and experience informal opportunities that aim to make lifelong changes in the lives of others and also forever change my perception on life. I greatly appreciate the financial support that CoffeeForLess is providing me, for it impacts me greater than supporting my education, but providing me increased opportunities for my professional and personal development.
Congratulations, John! For more information on how to apply to win the next Hit the Books Scholarship, visit the information page. The deadline for Fall 2011 applications is September 30th.