If you are not rich enough to fund your College education yourself, these
groups of co-students are bound to help you out. All you need do is identify
them and make yourself available to them.
Which groups of co-students? You want to know instantly?
Hold on and read the following story first.
He was due for study leave with pay. Yet, the leave was turned down on
administrative grounds!
However, the conversion of his accumulated annual leaves to cash payment was
approved and this, he used to foot himself very well in the first year on
campus.
“How will you get sponsored for the remaining years?”
That question came to him again and again.
Because he knew about the principle that says whenever there are changes
around us (e.g in law, culture or technology) someone gets richer, he became
an observer of changes.
He picked just a change in a technology and he made the principle workable to
personally raise funds.
Finally he came out a person who always proves that raising funds for one’s
college education is truly workable the quick and easy ways when:
(a) one piggybacks on specific trends – especially modern ones [i.e.without
necessarily relying on gratis or grant funding].
(b) one has eyes for details on the out-of-campus world.
(c) one is able to identify and is available to co-students who are there to
help one out.
That story is my own story; the story of how I got co-students (even
lecturers and staff) into providing funds for my education throughout College
and it is told here to assure you that self-sponsoring one’s college
education is workable the quick and easy ways than most of us ever thought.
Let me tell you here that the change principle mentioned above and the three
listed key points altogether served as the tools which turned me out to become
a ‘lecturer’ of my lecturers and co-students. If you find funding your
college education uneasy, I am sure the tools, if you put them to use, will
make things easy for you on campus.
Which groups of co-students are bound to help me out after identifying and
making myself available to them? You still ask?
Before I tell you about identifying and making yourself available to the
targeted co-students, you must be ready to do the following:
1. Piggyback on Specific Trends
I don’t know if you have noticed the principle mentioned above. Using my
case of change in technology will be suitable here.
As already pointed out above, I applied for a study leave with pay for my
degree course. Though the leave was not approved, I proceeded with high
determination. While I was striving to get steady source of income at the
end of my first year in school, I just remembered that it was a technological
change that forced all secretarial staff in my former workplace to get
trained in word processing in order to use personal computers for office work
instead of typewriters.
I observed that the same force has blown across my campus leaving around
unmet needs for computer training all over my school community. Having
already acquired skills, as a Confidential Secretary, in computer-based word
processing, I was ready to grab the opportunity of sharing the skills with my
co-students.
In short, a link with the Computer Studies Department of my school made me a
well-paid word processing ‘lecturer’ in my school community.
Though your own case may not be as my own, but I know that you have what it
takes to piggyback on trends around you. At the latter part of this article,
you will read about personal qualities you have and which you can easily use
to build needed college funds out of specific trends.
2. Use Eyes for Details on the Out-of-Campus World
Have you ever viewed the campus as another world?
When I noted the contrast between ‘on-campus’ and ‘off-campus’, I saw two
difference worlds. I saw that many service businesses obtaining beyond the
walls of my campus were completely duplicated or tailor-made as students’
versions; to befit the campus world.
Having eyes for details on the off-campus money-making activities requires
that you observe, learn yourself or get trained in them for consequent
‘importing’ to your campus.
Of course, you will be amazed of what becomes of you by using your
eyes-for-details tool very well. You will begin to see profitable activities
that were not obvious to you before and you will be able to produce ideas
that will offer you new cash-rewarding activities.
For example, while I was looking for extended ways of raking in extra income
with my computer skills on campus. I discovered that almost all those who
have undertaken their training through my tutoring were having no personal
computers of their own due, perhaps, to high prices of PCs then.
The capacity of the Computer Department could not absorb all intending
trainees then just like the two cafes on campus could not cope with the
number of students demanding services, training and practising sessions. I
never had the capital to establish a training centre and the concerned
students, again, faced the problem of high costs involved in getting trained
or in securing time for practising outside the campus.
I needed to fix things up.
My eyes for details led me to the fact that I could buy bulk computer hours,
sell at premium to students and monitor their attendance with a simple time
table. This really worked out using the same school computer centre late in
the evening from Monday to Friday.
Less I forget, I also sold my fast typewriting skills to my own Department by
being a ‘busy-days’ paid worker along with training the staff there and other
Departments. Initially, I was making money typing academic project for my
co-students overnights. Later, I turned out to be a contractor collecting
manuscripts of projects, distributing same for typing in the city and
returning finished projects, all at profits to me.
You don’t need to do any high-tension brain-storming. Just be observant or
read so widely to know about money-making ideas that can be newly introduced
or duplicated on campus.
Before my final year in school, I had become a campus photographer. Little
time into practising photography, I saw the digital world of photography and
imaging business emerging. Readings on-line and off-line provided me some
knowledge in these and, consequently, an introductory manual written by me on
this emergence and shared on/off-campus proved to be another good source for
funding myself. This adds that writing about what you know or do is another
inlet to get yourself supported financially.
Now, let me tell you who are your waiting sponsors.
Your ready-made waiting sponsors are your co-students who have to pay you for
offering services of your own choice. Sponsoring you therefore means paying
you for what you offer them. In fact, your school fees and feeding
allowances are in their hands.
These co-student-sponsors are in needs and wants. They have the money to
always put in your hands provided you have what to offer them to meet their
needs. If you can hit the needs and wants of the lazy and busy ones, then
you are on the fast lane to building funds for your college education. My
lecturers were the busy types and their tight schedules earned me extra
‘inconvenience allowances’ for training them when they thought it was not
convenient for me to be with them.
I have told you that the fastest way to get to your sponsors is to ride on a
particular trends – if not fashion it can be music. If not music, it can be
anything you have passion for and for which your co-students have same. When
their time is so tight to allow doing common things themselves, arrange for
making your own available to them. If it is needed information, provide this
as a paid service. This information has helped two student trainees of mine
to become professional online researchers serving other students to garner
academic information online just between lecture hours – using lecture rooms
freely as both collection points and distribution points. As an additional
example, a group of self-funded students initiated by me provided tutoring in
selected subjects to the children of some of my school staff every weekend in
their own quarters. Other instances abound.
You have been informed already of the place from where you can quickly copy
and import your services to the campus.
The last thing you need to do is the reality check of your knowledge (K),
access to information (I) skills (S), and experience (X). I call this call
all these KISX. Everybody has each of these and everybody can deploy their
mix – no matter their levels – for self-sourcing needed funds.
Doing my own reality check before starting my campus money-making activities,
I could not specifically write down what professional bodies of knowledge I
possessed but I was able to pinpoint my skills (e.g. 50/100 words per minute
in Typewriting/Shorthand and computer-based word-processing), experience
(e.g. a little above 7 years experience as a Confidential Secretary) and
access to information (e.g. in diverse publications and much later on the
Internet). These are what I used as raw materials for my computer tutoring
services.
By that levels of your own KISX, you are quite qualified to achieve the
objective of self-funding. Just do your own reality check to help you
rightly fill the needs and wants of your identified sponsors. Note that only
major samples of KISX are given above. I have not broken down my skills into
writing skills , people skills etc. Neither I have listed my experience in
public speaking, personal coaching etc. Doing your reality check should not
be a one-off thing. Make it a practice and you will be surprised of the
saleable unique personal qualities you have to make use of now for building
funds for your college education.
On the last note, I want you to know that this is not an exhaustive article
on funding yourself in College. It not prescriptive too. It is just a bit to
prick you into your own world of earning while you’re learning – ONLY BY
PROVIDING SERVICES AND DOING IT ON YOUR OWN.
My experience doing ‘businesses’ on campus was not as pretty as you’ve read
it here. It had ups and downs but all were effectively managed. I never
allowed my fund-raising activities to overshadow my academic
responsibilities. I am sure that your case will not be similar. However, I
know you are eligible to make it.
Check out your qualifications to excel in doing it and ACT.
Don’t wait to start later. START now. …with just what you have inside you
and outside you NOW.
The results of exporting my cash-making experience on campus to the
off-campus world is a success story that will fill series of ebooks or books!
You need not wait anymore.
You can get on all alone without people’s gratis or public grants.
Dare to DO it now. You’ll be dazed.
To your success.