Just when they thought the work load would start dwindling down as our last year of high school comes to a close, we seniors must first begin the dreaded process of scholarships and the creeping deadlines that come with them.

While scholarships are ways for students to pay for their college, they often struggle to find the motivation and time to fill all the forms out.

“It’s hard to find a balance and the time to do the scholarships and your homework too,” senior Kayla Johnson said.

The competitive nature of scholarships can also cause seniors to find themselves without any sort of drive.

“…for a lot of them I know I have a slim chance of getting them,” senior Jessie Chappel said, “and it takes a lot to talk myself into working hard on something that may not benefit me in any way.”

Senior Matthew Morse also feels the struggle that Chappel described.

“Sometimes it feels like you’re filling out the scholarships for no reason,” Morse said. “It’s easy to say ‘I’m never going to get this scholarship, I shouldn’t apply’ if it saves you a couple hours of work.”

Chappel, who said she has spent over 20 hours on scholarships, finds the time consuming essays to be her least favorite part.

“It’s just inconvenient to have to write so many different papers,” Chappel said.

Johnson, despite also writing essays, has spent her fair share of time struggling to find recommendation letters.

“…there are so many scholarships that ask for [recommendation letters] and I feel bad asking the same people for them to resign and reprint them over and over,” Johnson said.

It is ultimately the value of these scholarships that give students the extra push they need to complete them by the deadline.

“College is an insane amount of money,” Johnson said, “and I need help to pay for it so I need to win scholarships.”