Greater Minnesota Credit Union
2008 – 2009 Scholarship Program

Essay Question: What impact will GMCU have in helping you achieve your life goals? The top winning essay in each category are listed below.   Rachel Harmon – Brook Park, MN $1,000 Traditional Scholarship Awarded   “A goal without a plan is just a wish.” This quote, by Larry Elder, reflects how I feel about the importance of setting goals in my life and having a clear plan to reach them. So far my biggest goal in life has been to become a high school graduate with a quality record in academics, the arts, and athletics. With graduation nearing I am changing my focus to college and my life after college. As I plan my college experience and my career path it is become clear to me what a huge role finances will play in my ability to meet my future goals. I am certain that with the help of Greater Minnesota Credit Union I will be able to manage my money successfully and meet the needs I will have in the future.   The first step for any child on the way to being responsible with money is to learn about saving money. At a young age GMCU began teaching me about saving by providing me with a piggy bank. This got me excited to begin saving my pennies. My fondest memories of going to the bank as a child are days when I brought the change I had saved to the bank to put into the coin counter. It was always a fun family game to guess how much the total would be.   As my school years passed I continued to save money, but didn’t really have much other use for GMCU. As a senior my parents wanted me to take the next step and learn how to manage a checking account. My parents put me in charge of writing all the checks my younger siblings needed for school. They supplied the money, but I was responsible for keeping track of it all. After seven months of writing checks for school pictures, lunches and athletic uniforms I think I have finally got the hang of it. I did have some confusion in the first few months when withdrawing money. I didn’t realize there were different account numbers for checking and savings and had things a bit mixed up. With the help of the GMCU staff the problem was resolved and I had a good understanding of how to manage a check book.   This year I had the opportunity to travel to Germany and France on my own to visit a former foreign exchange student. My number one concern was how I would get money once I was in Europe. A visit to GMCU provided all the answers I needed. GMCU set me up with a debit card and credit card. While in Europe I was able to use these to access my money. During my trip the fraud center called my parents to express concern that my card was being used in a foreign country. My Mom let them know that the charges were legitimate. It was good to know that GMCU looks out for identity theft and will alert me when there is any suspicious activity on my accounts.   With only two months left of high school my focus is now totally on college. Next year I will be attending the University of Wisconsin at Green Bay. Though my family will support me as much as they can financially, I know that with four siblings they will not be able to pay for all of my college costs. I will be responsible for approximately $5,000 of my tuition each year. I am just starting to make a financial plan for the next four years. My goal is to obtain low interest loans from GMCU to help finance my education. After working with GMCU employees on my savings, debit card and credit card and am confident that they will point me in the right direction when it comes to college financing.   After college I know there will be many other financial needs in my life. After looking at the GMCU web site it is clear that GMCU offers many services that I will need in the future. Car loans, home loans, safe deposit boxes, budget planning, wire transfer, and ID theft recovery are all services that GMCU offers for its members. As I continue on my path of life I am confident that with the help of GMCU I will be able to meet all of my future financial needs and goals.

Daniel J. Peterson – Ogilvie, MN $1,000 Non-Traditional Scholarship Awarded   “You loaded 16 tons, what do ya' get? Another day older and deeper in debt.” These lines from Tennessee Ernie Ford’s (Earnest Jennings Ford) hit song basically describe everyone’s lives perfectly. For me, the 16 tons are the load of books, papers, and school work that constantly need to be done. Then you throw in a full day of classes, a part-time job, and trying to balance it all out; a person ends up with one sore back at the end of the night. However, its not just the constant work that gets a person down in the dumps, rather it is continually trying to be able to pay off bills, buy groceries, keep a vehicle running, and providing for family. Every day in college, I do start feeling deeper in debt. The trick is to know what resources are available when debt comes knocking at the door. For me, these resources can always be traced back to the GMCU.   The Greater Minnesota Credit Union has had a major impact on helping me up to this point, and will continually help me in the future to achieve my life goals. Most people’s goals are to be successful and happy in what they are doing. For me, I don’t want to just be successful, I want to feel like I made a difference, and at the end of the day feel proud about what I did. Not only do I want to love what I’m doing at the moment, but also want to know that in 50 years when I look back at what I have done, that I love the memories made. This is why a career in veterinary medicine has always seemed like the perfect fit for me. The problem is that it is eight years of college education; which means eight years of high costs going out, coupled with low amounts of income coming in. To my best knowledge, this equation equals an empty wallet and a lot of debt!   These last three years of undergraduate school, I have been able to pay my tuition and fees by working a part-time job and saving during the summer. However, now that I have started to look into Graduate school, it is beginning to dawn on me how much deeper in debt I will soon become. At this point I have made the grades, taken the tests, and now it’s just finding the money to keep my dreams alive. It is time for me to turn to the GMCU for help both financially and mentally to get through these next rough years.   As much as I hate student loans, I’m going to have to start dealing with them even more in the next few years. First I will look to federal aid, but after that I will be paying my nearest GMCU loan officer a visit. Since I have had small loans from GMCU before, I know what to expect; peace of mind. Peace of mind knowing that I can get the help I need, and that a friendly person will always be available to assist me if and when problems arise.   However, it is not just loans from the GMCU that I count on. All of my banking is done there; even while being five hours away from any GMCU while in college. Being able to pick up the phone and transfer funds from savings to checking has been a life saver for me in the past few years. Lastly, I no longer have to worry if a check was cashed or if money I transferred ended up where it was supposed to be because I can check everything on line. Having this resource at the end of my fingers or at the push of a phone number has helped me make plans, and like all plans, be able to change them quickly.   Now you may be thinking, “Kid, college is the least of your worries. Soon you will want a family and a house to call your own.” This is something that plagues me non-stop. After college I want a place to call my own; a place that I can come home to at night and feel like I have accomplished something, while I fix a leaky sink or a broken dryer. In that house, I hope there is constant commotion while my family and I go about our daily routines and struggles. For these dreams to come true I hope that my GMCU will again be able to offer all of their support, because I will need plenty.   Lastly, I would also like to open my own mixed animal (large and small) vet clinic. This, however, is both a dream and a nightmare. I often ask myself, “How can anybody graduate from get school, work a few years, and then start a business of their own when they are still trying to pay off college loans and start a family?” This very question is one that I may one day be asking a GMCU representative.   What I have realized is that money makes the world go around, and that the only way to make my dreams a reality, is to bite the bullet and deal with the costs of life as they come at me. When these costs come in like punches in the face, I hope that the GMCU is in the corner of the ring ready to guide me on my way to achieving my dreams. After all, it’s like Tennessee Ernie Ford also said, “A poor man’s made outta’ muscle and blood. A muscle and blood, skin and bones. A mind that’s a-weak and a back that’s strong!” It is a tough world out there, and being buried in debt is a way of life for many people fresh out of college. All I will be able to count on is that my muscles keep working, my blood keeps flowing and that the GMCU keeps guiding me on my way.