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Meet Me at the Corner
A former newspaper reporter who has lived in Franklin for nearly 40 years, Marjorie is active in several Franklin and Hales Corners organizations.
Celebrity Status. . .I Knew Her When. . .
By Marjorie Pagel
Tuesday, Aug 26 2008, 10:23 AM
Last week I was invited to a book launching party hosted by author Kimberly Stezala whose book Scholarships 101 is hot off the press and available at local bookstores for students and parents wondering how they’ll ever be able to afford college. The publisher is AMACOM (American Management Association.)
Kim has been so busy this past year she’s scarcely had time to respond to my e-mails.She’s had to fly to New York t work with her publisher and to other destinations for interviews. She’s launched her own website and started a newsletter for college-bound young people, and she’s been frequently interviewed about her book and her experetise on tapping into the scholarship market.
I met Kim 10 years ago when we both worked at St. Ann Center for Intergenerational Care in Bay View – and I’ll write more about that in another blog. Her radiant energy and her ability to connect with people on a sincere and down-to-earth level is what attracted me to her. I was there at her wedding when she married Darren (who gets well-deserved credit in her acknowledgments) and I’ve met their two children, Sophie and Jack. Even though she’s kind of a local celebrity now and destined for an even rosier future (or so I predict), Kim Stezala will always be the same Kim Stezala at heart – and I’m proud to call her my friend.
These days Kim refers to herself as “The Scholarship Lady.” On the back cover of her book, next to her photograph, we learn that she founded Wisconsin’s first online scholarship database, that she is an advisory board member at Parents Plus Wisconsin, and that she writes a newspaper column about scholarships.
In her introduction to Scholarships 101, Kim says: “I know that the cost of college continues to rise faster than inflation, costs more than a loaded luxury car, and petrifies college-bound students of modest means.” But there’s hope – and Kim’s encouraging voice emerges with practical advice in every page of her book, subtitled “The Real-World Guide to Getting Cash for College.”
“I have devoted my career to helping families achieve their education dreams,” Kim tells her readers. Dreams may indeed be the starting point for the students she counsels, but if you’ve ever met Kim you’ll know she’s not the type to walk around with her head in the clouds. “I tell it like is,” she told her well-wishers at the book-launching party.
In a radio podcast at the beginning of the summer, Kim offered five tips for students thinking about college. In summary, those tips are: 1) Volunteer; 2) Work at places that offer scholarships to their employees; 3) Demonstrate a positive work ethic; 4) Join or attend a pre-college program (see Chapter 4, “College Prep” for details on this;) and 5) Start looking for those scholarships now. (See: http://www.blogtalkradio.com/The-Scholarship-Lady)
A second podcast, “Surfing for Scholarships,” features Kim interviewing guest Christopher Penn, who has authored an e-book on using Google to search for scholarships. Kim also offers a free newsletter at her website, http://scholarshipstreet.com. And, on top of all that, she has just produced a new video, “Scholarships for Beginners” that offers much of the same advice and practical tips found in her book.
“What folks should know is that there is about three billion dollars in private scholarships,” you’ll hear Kim say if you check out that site. Tapping into those billions is her mission. (I especially like her upbeat voice and enthusiastic “you-can-do-it!” attitude.)
Although I have no children in college right now, I know it took Ericka and Matt many years after graduation to pay off their college loans. I also see many college students through my teaching at Concordia University, and I have friends and relatives who have kids with college aspirations. Although my oldest grandchild is just entering first grade next week, if the next 12 years fly by as quickly as these first 6, it won’t be long before he and his parents will be looking for scholarships too. Of course, by that time Kim will be launching an updated version of Scholarships 101.
In the meantime, her book is available at Harry W. Schwartz bookstores, at Barnes and Noble, and through Amazon.com. Many of our local libraries should be carrying it soon – if enough of us request it. I plan to donate autographed copies to both Franklin and Hales Corners libraries so that high school students and their parents can start thinking and planning for college scholarships NOW.
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