The Gilman Scholarship

I am definitely trying to find help to pay for this expensive elongated vacation also known as study abroad. Right now I am in the middle of preparing my application for the Gilman Scholarship. If I get it I could have another $5000 at my disposal, which would be awesome. Though it is impossible to know whether or not I will get it, there is certainly no harm in trying. I just submitted my two essays to my study abroad advisor so that he can give me feedback on them. It is due March 1st (Mom's birthday!) so I'll let you know how everything went sometime around then. Next on the list is getting my passport in the mail.... I'm still waiting on it, even though you'd think that for $120 the service would be decently speedy, but apparently not, since I'm on my 5th week of waiting.