Fallen Patriots is proud to provide support to its scholars in the form of college scholarships and educational counseling, but the charitable organization also delves into other ways that it can help students post-graduation – namely, matching students to career opportunities. Read on to find out how you, as a scholar, can take advantage of the support Fallen Patriots offers beyond grant-funding.
1. Enroll Student
To kick off the process, the potential scholar must first enroll in Fallen Patriot’s scholarship program. You can find and fill out an enrollment form here: https://www.fallenpatriots.org/enroll-a-student
2. Determine Career Path
Next, it’s important for the scholar to figure out what they want to do as a career. Perhaps they’ve known what they’ve wanted to do since they were a young child, or maybe they’re still contemplating this big decision. Either way, an idea of a career path helps a student determine which college they’d like to attend, what they’d like to major in and, eventually, what they plan to accomplish post-graduation.
3. Communicate with Fallen Patriots
The Programs Team at Fallen Patriots is dedicated to helping scholars navigate their educational journeys and matching them with career opportunities after graduation. Many individuals on the team are former Fallen Patriots scholarship-recipients themselves and, therefore, have been through similar experiences. When you become a Fallen Patriots scholar, you are automatically matched with one of these Scholarship Administrators and are encouraged to regularly communicate about any questions or concerns you may have. They also help connect scholars to various professional development and career exploration activities.
4. Pursue Opportunities!
Since its inception, Fallen Patriots has facilitated 15 internship placements, 17 full-time placements, and hosted 4 career symposiums. There are plenty of opportunities to pursue post-graduation either with or through Fallen Patriots; remember that communication and staying informed is key! One example of a Fallen Patriots scholar that has benefited from Fallen Patriots’ holistic approach to helping Gold Star children in every way they can – before, during and after college – is Sebastian N.. Aiming to continue to support Sebastian’s career aspirations after he graduated with a degree in Material Science and Engineering from Penn State University, Fallen Patriots connected the scholar to Kaiser Aluminum, an industry leader in the production of aluminum headquartered in California. Sebastian is now working as a Process Engineer at their Los Angeles plant.