Marissa knows what it’s like to be under pressure and in the spotlight while sharing her views and skills with judges at scholarship pageants. These events prepared her for writing winning scholarship essays! Now, she’s on my podcast to share her skills and expertise so that you can learn how to WIN SOME SCHOLARSHIP MONEY TOO! Opportunities might pop up where you least expect them, so go out there and just ask!
Check out the website of Marissa Hitt’s art business, Melane & Co. — > www.melaneandco.com
Melane & Co. on Instagram — > www.instagram.com/melaneandco/
Melane & Co. on Facebook — > www.facebook.com/melaneandco
Marissa Hitt's Instagram — > www.instagram.com/marissamelanehitt/
LET’S GOOOOOOO!
Related Episodes:
197 - How to Get a Scholarship Without Being a Genius
180 - How to Find Major Specific Scholarships, From Pre-Med to Education Majors and Beyond!
92 - My Cousin Earned $55,000 in Scholarships from 4 Recycled Essays!!
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**Get scholarships and pay for college without student loans!**
Are you worried about how to pay for college? Stressed because it’s so expensive? Are you having trouble finding scholarships, or all you find don’t apply to you? Overwhelmed with all things school and money?
Welcome fam! This podcast will help you find and get scholarships, avoid student loans and maybe even graduate college debt-free!
Hey! I’m Kara, a Christian entrepreneur, amateur snowboarder, and scholarship BEAST! I figured out how to not only finish college debt-free, but I even had $10k left over in the bank after graduation. (& btw, my parents weren’t able to help me financially either!)
During school, I was worried about paying for next semester. I couldn’t find scholarships that worked specifically for me, and didn’t know how to get started while juggling homework and keeping up with ALL.THE.THINGS.
But dude, I learned there was a better way! With God’s direction, I tested out of classes, and found the perfect scholarships, grants, internships, and weird budget hacks that helped me go from overwhelmed to debt-free with $10k in the bank–all with God on my side.
... and I’m here to walk you through this, too.
If you are ready to find scholarships specific to you, learn to manage your money well, and have enough money to kill it at college, this pod is for you!
So grab your cold brew and TI-89, and listen in on the most stress-free and debt-free class you’ve ever attended: this is Money and Mental Peace.
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Topics related to this episode: tried and true, college funding, debt free, debt, zero debt, realistic ways to make money in college, need money in college, broke, in debt, no more debt i owe, paid in full, grants, college grants, easy scholarships, scholarship pageant, beauty pageant, pageant, beauty pageant miss universe, little miss pageant, beauty pageant miss america, pageant crowns, pageant sash, pageant dresses for teens, pageant guru, pageant questions, pageant definition, pageant gowns, pageant interview, pageant interview dresses, pageant interview outfit, beauty pageant hair, beauty pageant hairstyles, National American Miss, National American Miss Pageant
Today we're talking about a different type of scholarship winner, a type of scholarship that we hadn't talked about. My friend Marissa that has been involved in scholarship pageants, but what she has learned from that has also helped in winning scholarships or otherwise like writing a scholarship essay, how to present yourself and promote yourself and interview well both in person and have sort through scholarship essays. And she's won 7,000 plus in scholarships. So I was like, I need to have her on. I mean, she's still early in her college career. And I just really think that what she has to say will bless you. So I'm excited for you to learn about the steps, not just to find the scholarships, but right applying. If you are like, that's great Cara, but I wish I had scholarships to apply for first. I got you. Okay, go plan a free call with me. A free scholarship strategy session at calendly.com slash money and mental peace because we can talk about your plans for school and for college and scholarships and what kind of scholarships you might need to be looking for strategize. Unlike when you would want them to buy. And then if you'd like to hire me to do it for you, I can search for scholarships for you to apply to anywhere between 10,000 to $30,000 worth of scholarship opportunities that you can that you know. Work for you because I vetted them to see that they met your qualifications and then you can just listen to this episode, learn what Marissa has to say about actually applying to the scholarships and then you can take it and run. So I am hoping that you love the episode as well as make an appointment with me so that I can meet you in person, or at least quote unquote zoom person right at calendly.com slash money and mental peace. Alright, let's get it. Hey girl, welcome to money and mental peace. Do you want to find scholarships and avoid student loans? You find yourself googling, easy scholarships and how to pay for college. Do you feel overwhelmed with life in general that you can't even think about paying for next semester? Hey, I'm Cara and in college, I too was worried if I was good at money. I couldn't find scholarships that worked specifically for me and I didn't know how to get started while juggling homework and all the things. But that changed through prayer and God's direction. I tested out of classes, learned to budget and found those perfect scholarships and even had $10,000 left over in the bank after graduation. At BTW, my parents weren't able to help me financially either. If you're ready to find scholarships specific to you, manage your money well and just stop being broke. Then grab your cold brew and TA89 because class is now in session. Hey guys, welcome back to money and mental peace and my guest, Marissa. Can you tell us about yourself and we're going to be talking a little bit about scholarships too. Lay the groundwork of who you are as it leads into all your interests and scholarships. Well, thank you. Thank you, Cara, for having me on your podcast. I'm so honored. I'm Marissa Hit. I am a business owner. I'm the co-founder of Malainco, which is an art business. Through Malainco, I create watercolor prints, cards, custom pet portraits and floral paintings. And I'm so excited for some upcoming launches. I'm already gearing up for 2025, which is so exciting and I have had so many interests in my lifetime. So many, but they've always been creative. They've always been entrepreneurial and I have been a scholarship applicant. I currently am. I have competed in scholarship pageants. I have built two businesses and I have worked with multiple ministries. I have a lot of volunteer experience, a lot of public speaking experience and I have so many interests and I know that your listeners do too. So I'm very excited to dive into this episode and give some advice to the students who have a lot of interests, the students who aren't quite sure what to write about and how to craft their scholarship applications. And I hope to provide some advice for parents as well. And I thank you so much for allowing me to be on your podcast. Well, thank you. I already can tell that you have had a public speaking experience or thank you sound like right on it. Yeah, I love that. So you had given me a few points about yourself that I also wanted to touch on in case it's relatable to anybody else listening that you had been homeschooled all your life. And you in the midst of doing all of this, that probably helps that you've been able to do some traveling. I'm guessing because you also mentioned traveling and such. So do you think that kind of prepared you for maybe a little bit more like independence to be able to search out and apply for scholarships because sometimes it really takes an initiative to do that. Like it does not just hand it to you. Well, that's a good question. I never thought that way. Well, I believe I've always been a go getter for the things that I really care about. I will say in my life, which is a wonderful quality, I believe for your students to have is when you don't feel led to something, you don't do it. And if you do feel led to something, you go full force. And I believe that has been what I have been like in my life. I have traveled multiple places, especially for my scholarship patterns, and I adopted my family and I adopted my younger sister from Guangzhou, China. So I definitely have a lot of different experiences. So I would say that traveling, I've always traveled with my family, but in the grand scheme of life. Yes, just being a go getter and following where the Lord leads me and opportunities he provides me, that has really helped me with scholarships as well and finding and identifying the ones that are the best fit for me. Mm hmm. Absolutely. That sounds like a key right there. They're the best fit for you, which I think would be both someone's qualifications as well as interests. The one thing that you, I don't think you mentioned in your intro, but I know we've talked about before that you've done some modeling and other things like you mentioned pageants. So like if somebody's listening and is like, what's a scholarship pageant? Because maybe they haven't heard of it termed that way. Like tell us just a tad about that. Right. So I started scholarship pageants when I was seven. My first pageant was National American Miss. Some of you may know it actually. It's a pretty well known system and it started gaining some traction, I would say, in the 2000s to 2010s, and that was my first pageant. But, and this is, glory to the Lord, I received a second runner up in a state pageant, and that was my first pageant, and I believe there were about 100 girls. And I won best, I had the highest score in interview, and I'm very thankful for that. And I think the judges saw my passion for things. They saw how focused I was. And very much scholarship pageants are very similar. They have very similar qualities to scholarship applications, and I could, I could write a whole essay on that, but they are very similar. But scholarship pageants, the ones I were in, they were not glam. They did not put the young girls in an uncomfortable position. They had very strict rules on, and they believe, I believe they still do very strict rules on how much makeup we could use. I believe at my age at seven, they were like no makeup, no gloss, no blush, no mascara, none of that. You had, in your standard competition, what was required, you had interview, which was like a round robin interview, which is where you go from table to table and judge to judge. And then you had formal where, which is where you had a dress, a long dress, and so I learned from a very young age how to walk in a long dress and how to be honest. A personal intro, which is public speaking, about a 30 second intro about yourself, and what a great thing to do to put in there is what you will do if you win. That's also great for scholarships. And let's see, we also had, I believe that was it. I believe there are about three main "competition" sections, but all of that has really helped me in my life, and I see so many similarities between scholarship pageants, my entrepreneurial drive, and scholarship applications. Absolutely. Honestly, I love that because that's one type of scholarship and stuff we pointed on that we haven't really talked about a ton on this show, but tell us how that's connected. I'll kind of name that first bullet point question you and I had talked about, but of course, just tie it into what you just said as however you'd like, but how to do that sort of thing and identify interests and passions to implement into scholarship essays and such. You also said this can apply to job interviews and other things, because that's going to be hard to do sometimes. Sometimes a person finds a scholarship and just stares blankly at the screen of they're like, "Okay, write about something you like." You started a great segue. I love to hear all about that. Yes. Well, in interviews, one of the number one things that I have learned is learn how to direct the conversation, and the interviewees, which in this case would be your scholarship application committee, your judges, they want to be led somewhere. They want to be led to your story, and they want to learn about you. They want to know what you're doing. So, when you're given something like, "Tell me what your interests are." Yes, you can name some fun things too. Name, you know, "Oh, I love spending time with my dog or something like that." You can name a few fun things in there, but the most important thing is tell them how their money is going to be used. Tell them your story. But when I say that, if you have decided your major, and you know what you're going for, and you look 10 years down the line and you're thinking, "This is what I want to do," tie it back to that. So, if you were to ask me, "Well, what do you like to do, Marissa?" I would probably say, "Well, I love creating custom pet portraits for customers through my business Malaining Po." And then I would tie it back into, "Well, I'm a double major in business marketing and entrepreneurship at Calvary University, and I would tie all of that in." But I would still, of course, depending on the prompt, you know, the prompt really shows you how, quote, casual or how formal it should be. But I would tie it back to what I'm doing and really try to make them see, "This is why you should pick me." Right? Because, and you do that with a godly confidence. You do that through, well, the Lord, you know, especially if you're being prayerful about finding scholarships and finding wonderful people like you, Kara, who help other people find scholarships. Oh, thank you. Yes, of course. You do that with a god has given me these gifts. Let's honor him through that. Let's talk about how the Lord has led me to this place in my life. And you do that with such a confidence and such a clarity that your application stands out. What I'm hearing from you, I love that. I don't think I've ever been able to articulate it quite like that. So what I'm hearing from you is, yes, learn how to direct the conversation. But a lot of times, which is honestly the same and a lot of just everyday conversations, a lot of it is turning it back to the other person and how any money that's given to me would best be, or more like how your money, right, scholarship, judge, hello, your money will be used in amazing ways in A, B, and C. So it makes them feel connected to it and proud and confident in what they've been able to give of a sort is kind of what I hear you're saying. Is that correct? Yes, yes, because you think about in your writing and you don't have time to converse. You can't. You don't have the opportunity unless you have an interview where they're trying to decide who the winner should be for a scholarship. But you don't have time to have a conversation of like, this is what I'm doing. Oh, that's really neat. Can you tell me more about this? You have to lay it all out in an essay and whatever other records they would like. And so you're showing them as much as possible. This is what I bring to the table. And this is how you can be a part of this. And the Christian scholarship applicant is thinking, this is how I can bring glory to the Lord. Absolutely, because as I've mentioned other times on the podcast, that's one reason I'm passionate about this because God can totally use us if we have student loan debt afterwards. And yet I'd love to show people that there's an opportunity to be free from that after to go into God's direction of their life without that hanging over their head. So it's kind of like taking steps, like being initiative, being competitive to a point, like a healthy Godly point, right? Presenting your best qualities in a humble way is not on Christian. It's using and then following the directions that God's given you and the gifts God's given you is I think what you're saying, and I would agree with that as well. Yes, yes, I've had multiple opportunities where I have had to be competitive. And especially this past year, I've had to really reflect about how that can be used for his glory, especially as I was creating. And this is something you have talked about in your podcast before, but I was trying to pass through some college credits, and I wrote a really large document regarding what I have done and how I can apply it to my life now. So I was trying to pass through some credits and basically through the, I believe it's through the CLEP program through that. Yes, yes, I was so blessed to do that. Yes, thank you. So amazing. And as I was writing that, it was a really large document and looking back on my life. It was like, how can I, you know, bring this back to the Lord, how can I make sure because it felt like bragging as I was writing. I was like, this feels like bragging like it doesn't feel really uncomfortable, but the more, you know, and I've had multiple emotions with it, I would say. But, you know, then I thought about it and it's like, I can bring glory to the Lord through this. This is, this is for him. This isn't me. Amen. And that's still tied back to expressing your confident abilities and skills, but reverting to back to how it benefits someone else, or acknowledging God's glory in it. I love that. Thank you. That's so good. So yes, I agree. And what are your thoughts, time, something in like that, to a point when somebody has multiple interests or multiple experiences because sometimes there are essays that are, yeah, like you have a lot of time and space to write, or it's like, oh, it's 100 words, you know, or 200 words or something. And in that instance was what I've told people before is you really want to make sure that you do stay on topic of what their question is like you want to actually answer their question, while still having some sort of attention, you know, attention grabber and go forward with that. So, some scholarship questions are very specific like, oh, what would, how would you make an innovation for recycling? I don't know. But I mean, like, if it's something that has to do with all your multiple interests and multiple activities, like give us some advice on how to communicate that sort of thing when on the surface, a lot of those multiple activities are unrelated. Mm hmm. Well, for me, you kind of think about what you're good at. Don't think about all of the activities you've been in. And don't start there's what I mean. Don't start with all the activities you've been in and start with what you're good at. So for me, I know that God has gifted me with an entrepreneurial drive. He has gifted me with creativity. He has gifted me with the ability to give back to nonprofits through my artwork. I donate artwork to silent auctions and I've given my artwork as gifts. And he's let me have experiences to where I see a need for him in the world and I see the need just for godly service in the world. And so I'll start with that. And then I'll think, okay, well, what am I doing right now. And then, how am I going to use that in 10 years. Right. So I know with Malain and Co, I want it to be a long term endeavor. I don't want it to be something that is just what I do in college and then drop it or anything like that. Unless that is what the Lord wants. Sure. But I see it as a long term endeavor. And so I'll say, I use empathy and entrepreneurship to give back to others to, and I say it more eloquently in college applications, of course, but I use artistry and empathy to give back to others. And I want to do this for the rest of my life. And so having things like that, when you have a very concise scholarship application, that's a really good place to start starting with what you care about what the Lord has placed on your heart, what talents you have, because if you think about it, a lot of times jobs come and go, your occupations come and go. But if you kind of start to wear one of my good at what have been some major beings in my life in terms of what I've always come back to, you know, my sporty person, am I someone who's always used creativity, am I someone who always wants to cheer others up. If you go back to those kind of things, you have a wonderful foundation for any scholarship application, large or small. I love that it sounds like, it sounds like something in, I'm going to say dance, for example, if you learn various basic skills and moves other stuff that you can add upon that can make sense of sorts. So it's kind of like you're acknowledging what your skills and interests are. And on top of that adds in your accomplishments, whereas some people might be like, I accomplished these five things now if the scholarship asks for that specifically okay, you know, but it's not always just saying okay I did these five things it's more like this That's not maybe exactly what you said, but it kind of gives it like a heart before the action. Did I kind of summarize that. I love that. That is, yes, I love that so much. And with my scholarship applications. Sometimes I'll mix it up sometimes I'll say I use RST and empathy, you know, in the beginning of the essay or sometimes I'll, you know, put it towards the end. I personally like it. And it's just me personally, you know, you have to look at the scholarship, but I personally like it at the end, like through artistry, entrepreneurship and empathy. I use these skills and using these skills. And that's, that's really great because that just shows them. Okay, this is what she's about. And it's like, that's your thesis statement, even if it's a short, whether it's a long or short essay it's kind of encapsulates what you're trying to say, which I think people also need to remember also anyone listening if you don't know what a thesis statement is that would be a great thing to look at because that can often be depending on the size of what you're writing. It can be at the beginning of the end or perhaps the last sentence of the first paragraph, like it depends on what you're doing. But that can really, and then that helps you have everything else that's in what you're writing, at least does it tie back to that somehow. So anyways, there's my writing tutoring going on tangent, I will stop that. Oh, I love it. I love it. But that sort of thing. There's more that I know you wanted to mention about and I want to give you space for that but before I jump into that just kind of like to tie in a bit of excitement. So, I think everyone's wondering, have you won any scholarships from all this that you're telling us? Like, is all of this really worth it? You know, have you, are you just telling us just to tell us? You know what I'm saying? Like, I actually am asking you to brag a little bit about your accomplishments in that regard. And then to tie in whatever else you would like to explain to us about scholarships in your business. Well, thank you, Cara. Well, I have been blessed to be able to receive several scholarships per school year, academic year. See, I need to say academic year. Yeah, because I've switched from high school to college and it's really strange. I'm like, I say school year and I'm like, no, that's not right. Okay. Well, anyway, I have been blessed to receive quite a bit of scholarships and a few that I have received is a diversity scholarship. I believe I received a few of those and I received a direct marketing scholarship. And this one was local and a homeschool scholarship, which if you are homeschooled, definitely look into homeschool scholarships, look into scholarships of your university, community college, college, anything like that, really look into that. And I, a scholarship that was, I recently received, which was amazing. I applied on the day it was due. I found out about it. The day was due. I applied for it. The day it was due. I, it was so funny. I would, I found it on social media because I follow a few scholarship pages, a couple to a few. And I was like, wow, this looks really, and if we're going to go in business terms, niche down, niche down, meaning this feels very specific and cater towards me. It was a diversity scholarship coupled with a business scholarship, I believe, coupled with a Christian scholarship. So, hey, that's, yeah. And so all that can encapsulate the whole encapsulate the whole scholarship. And so I'm thinking those are three points that I already have. Two are great. Two points are great. Like women in business. Okay, great. Three points, you know, that's even more niche down and just know that each time, and this is for your listeners and I hope, I hope they gained some value from this. But each time you have those little filters in there, if you will, you have a more, you have a better chance of receiving the scholarship. If you have good writing, if you, if any, you don't have to be the best writer, but you know, if you take some time to be intentional with your writing, right? If you have a strong scholarship application, you will increase your chances, especially if it's niche down like that. I found that scholarship. And I was like, I don't think I'm going to apply for this. Like, it's due today. But then I was thinking I was like, that's really niche down. Like, how about I try? I have a little bit of time. I know I have assignments right now and everything, but you know, they're not due today. So I don't think I had any assignments due that day. And I was like, okay, let me do this. This will, this will take a couple hours. I mean, or I was even thinking it would take all day, actually, now that I thought of it, because it was a pretty, it was a pretty detailed scholarship application. But I was thinking, let me go for it, right? I mean, I have a chance, I have no chance if I don't apply. I have a chance if I do, right? And you always have to think about that with scholarships, not saying to apply to everyone. But I hope that provides some encouragement. And so I thought for it, the, the, they're, they had a certain time that they wanted in, which that's also important to think about. Sometimes they list times where they no longer expect scholarship applications, like, you know, this date at five p.m. And so I submitted about 20 minutes before is due. And I thought, okay, I'm, I'm glad I did that. I was like, I, I, it was just, it felt very great to get it in, even if I didn't win. I was like, I tried, and, you know, that's, that really counts as something. And so, but I had a feeling about it in this way. I don't even know how to explain it, but I felt good about it. And I found out recently about a couple of weeks ago that I received it. Yeah, I'm very thankful, so thankful. But yes, and so just finding which scholarships are the right ones for you, finding the ones that are specific and cared towards you, which is something that Kara helps you with. That is something that's so important for scholarship. And of course, I did not pay her to say that. No, no, she did not. Of course, apply to some random ones here and there, especially if they're easy, but finding those really niche down ones are so helpful for you, and definitely give you a better chance of receiving it. I love that. Honestly, that is literally a whole bunch of what I released on an episode end of last week. I don't know if you heard it, but I. It's called is scholarship all legit, which is an online database. And is it worth your time and energy? And that's one of the things I talked about was like, there's a lot of general ones that you might probably not get, because it's so general. But if they're easy, why not take the time to just do it quick. But then also looking for those that are really specific to you, a little more effort could pay off, but it might be harder to do, but you might have more of a chance. And I love how you still did something the day of, because I just like, why not try? I also, I applied for scholarship after it was overdue, but it was a local one, so I could actually talk to the people and be like, can I still apply to this? And they said, yes, so obviously some can't do that, but I commend you on going for it the last day right there and then actually seeing something from it. That is so cool. Well, thank you. Well, I'm one of those people that's like, if it's the day of, you know, even with plans, I'm like, if it's the day of, and it's not. If I already have things planned, or I have a somewhat busy schedule, I'm probably just going to be like, I'm going to pass on this. Thank you though. And so with this scholarship, it was like, I was so close to just being like, no, I'm not doing this. I actually already had my mind. I'm like, I'm not doing that. But then I thought about it and I applied and, you know, you just never know. Yeah, absolutely. I love this. And do you feel comfortable? And if not, I can edit this part out. But do you feel comfortable telling us how much some years that you won in scholarship money? Yes. Yes. So I believe this year, I have received somewhere close or a little bit more than 5,000 in scholarship money. Right. And yes, such a blessing. And I was doing the numbers, actually, because I printed out the scholarships that I've received, like all their scholarships I've received. And I have received double about double or so than I did last year. Wow. Awesome. So, so good. Thank you. And I think it just really shows that finding those scholarships and getting the ones that are niche down, it really pays off. You're on your way to 10,000 in scholarships coming up soon because you're on such a great trajectory. Thank you. That's awesome. I didn't realize that. Yeah, because if it's 5,000 and that's double from last year. So you're getting close. So our Zoom meeting only has about two minutes left. The reason I do that is so that I personally don't talk on too long. But I really want to hear in the last two minutes, any last comment, encouragement you want to share with the listeners and about your business so that people can come find it. Well, thank you. I would say keep, keep, just do everything for the Lord. When you're applying for scholarships, do everything for the Lord. Keep in mind Colossians 323, which reminds you to just go in his direction, whatever you do do for the Lord. And for parents, just keep encouraging your students to apply for scholarships. If you happen to run into any, send them to them. And especially family members, friends, if you know a college student and you're thinking, well, I'm not sure if they're applying to scholarships, but I'm going to send this over because it looks like something they could apply for. It looks like something that's very niche down for them. Do that. And as far as my business goes. Yes, I create watercolor paintings, custom pet portraits, cards, wall prints, custom floral paintings. I can also create butterflies. I can create paintings on canvas and watercolor. And you can find all of that on malaningco.com. M-E-L-A-N-E and Co.com. Is it the and symbol or A-N-D? It's A-N-D, but spelled out. It's an ampersand. Okay, got it, got it, got it. I love that. Thank you so much. And I have to admit, while you were talking, I was looking at your website a little bit. Well, thank you. It's beautiful. So I will put links to that in description. Thank you so much for coming on, Marissa. Thank you, Cara. Thank you, listeners. Hey, girl. I hope you enjoyed today's episode. If so, would you take 30 seconds and share it with a friend who wants to get scholarships and avoid student loans just like you? Okay, now I'm off to hopefully play some Ultimate Frisbee. I'll meet you back here in a few days for another episode. Bye!
