Eloise Vasquez has spent the past four years helping high school students plan their futures.

The career specialist at Agua Fria High School in Avondale has conversations with students each day about careers and colleges.

And she makes sure her students take advantage of the numerous scholarship opportunities available to them.

Vasquez shares some of her advice for how students can find and land scholarships:

How do you find scholarship opportunities and encourage students to take advantage of them?

“I do a lot of research. When the scholarships come in, I read through them and then get the information out through the Web sites and newsletters. Students can come to the career center during lunch or after school to search on Web sites. I try to encourage students because sometimes they don’t think they have a story to tell. They will come to me and say, ‘I’m not sure I can do this,’ and I’ll say, ‘Tell me a little bit about yourself.’ As I’m interviewing them, they will tell me all this great information and I’ll say, ‘See, go write that down.’ I try to encourage them to be all they can be. We try to give them all the information and show them the options.”

What can students do to make sure they are scholarship candidates?

“I tell students to get involved and do community service. There are a lot of community organizations that offer money. You have to have pretty good grades, and participating in any kind of leadership program really helps. During the summer, the community colleges and different organizations offer programs students can get involved in. Midwestern University has a health care week and Estrella Mountain (Community College) has the NASA program. Things like that show the scholarship committee that this is a student who is diligent and pursing their goals.”

Where should students look for scholarships?

“I usually tell them to sign up in one of the free scholarship searches. There are tons of them. When the students answer questions they can let them know when they are graduating. I tell them to stay away from places that tell you to pay money.”

How can parents help?

“When the school offers college and career night, they should attend and bring their students. When there are financial-aid nights, they should come and hear what the options are.”

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