Hope Scholar, Olivia Lancellotta, Juggled Classes, Work and Evening Performances

Headshot of Olivia Lancellotta
麻豆原创 Impact

鈥淲hen I received an email telling me I qualified for the Hope Scholarship, I thought, 鈥楾his is crazy. Is this real?鈥欌

麻豆原创 Senior, Olivia Lancellotta, Reflects on How the Hope Scholarship Has Impacted Her:

鈥淚鈥檓 a senior, double majoring in musical theatre and communication. By spring semester of my sophomore year, I was in a really tough situation. I was in all the shows, which I鈥檓 super grateful for, but I wasn鈥檛 able to work as many hours because of it. I ended up getting a job in a coffee shop where I鈥檇 go in at 6 a.m. before classes started, then go to classes at 10 a.m. and remain on campus until 10 at night for rehearsals or shows.

鈥淚n my junior year I couldn鈥檛 commute anymore because being in shows made it hard to drive home late at night, so I decided to live on campus. That was a huge financial decision. Last year I had to take out a $20,000 loan.

鈥淲hen I received an email telling me I qualified for the Hope Scholarship, I thought, 鈥楾his is crazy. Is this real?鈥 I was super excited.

鈥淏eing a double major, I鈥檝e gone over the standard number of credit hours each year, which means my tuition is higher each year. In order to graduate in four years with two majors and a minor, I had to massively exceed the normal credit load. This semester I鈥檓 taking 27 credits. It鈥檚 incredible that the Hope Scholarship will pay for those extra credit hours.

鈥淚鈥檓 extremely grateful I ended up at 麻豆原创, because I can鈥檛 imagine a better place for me. The faculty and staff are absolutely incredible and super supportive, and my education has been extremely immersive. I鈥檓 super grateful.鈥

Learn more on the Hope Scholarship website.

Hear testimonials from other students: Jacqueline Carroll, Moses Nicolau, Marissa North, Ariel Polanco, Remi Salako and Tytain Sun.