Hope Scholar, Moses Nicolau, Says Scholarship Couldn’t Have Come at a Better Time

RIC Senior, Moses Nicolau, Reflects on How the Hope Scholarship Has Impacted Him:

“I’m a K-12 art education major. Up until now, I’ve been paying for my tuition myself because I didn’t want to burden my parents. They’re already paying for my younger sister who is in her freshman year at URI, and my older brother, who is in the School of Pharmacy at URI, has loans on top of loans. Even I took out loans my first few semesters at RIC. After that, I started working 15 to 20 hours a week, and my check would go straight to RIC. There was never any money left over. 

“When I heard that the Hope Scholarship was being offered, I thought it was too good to be true. I started checking the website daily to see when I could apply. I was so nervous because I didn’t know if there’d be some kind of cap on the number of people who could apply or if they’d only pick a select few. I’d check the website sometimes twice a day.

“As soon as I got the email saying I qualified for the Hope Scholarship, I thought, ‘Oh my God, I can now afford college without the stress of working long hours.’ It couldn’t have come at a better time. I start student teaching next semester, and it’s recommended that you only work once a week, at the most.

“Because of the Hope Scholarship, the stress has been lifted. I can now focus completely on school.”

Learn more on the Hope Scholarship website.

Hear testimonials from other students: Jacqueline Carroll, Meghan LaFlamme, Olivia Lancellotta, Marissa North, Ariel Polanco, Remi Salako and Tytain Sun.