Scholarship Program

The NFB of Virginia is pleased to announce the launch of its James F. Nelson merit scholarship program for the academic year 2023-2024. Up to three scholarships
of $2500.00 will be awarded based on academic achievement, community engagement, and leadership potential. One of these three scholarships will be directly
pledged to a qualifying freshman or sophomore.

The NFB of Virginia believes that all blind and visually impaired students who apply for a James F. Nelson scholarship can benefit from the experience of attending the state convention. The NFBV will cover reasonable costs associated with attending the convention for all eligible applicants, including a room at the hotel shared with a fellow scholarship applicant, most meals, and the cost of registration and a banquet ticket. Scholarship applicants should work with their local chapters to explore transportation options and should notify the scholarship committee if they encounter difficulties. Convention related expenses will be reimbursed or covered by the affiliate at the convention. Please notify the committee if you do not have access to a credit card or other means of covering pre-convention costs. Applicants are expected to pre-register in order to signal their intention to attend the state convention and to assist the scholarship committee to make hotel reservations.

The Scholarship Committee will review all applications and select the scholarship recipients. All decisions of the Scholarship Committee are final.

Please read all instructions carefully and pay close attention to the deadlines.

To be eligible to receive a James F. Nelson scholarship, all applicants must:

Be legally blind or have a visual impairment that qualifies them to receive services under IDEA or from a state vocational rehabilitation program.
Be a resident of the Commonwealth of Virginia or be attending full time an accredited institution of higher education in the Commonwealth of Virginia.
Plan to pursue a full-time, postsecondary course of study in the 2023-2024 academic year: and
Participate in the entire NFB of Virginia state convention and in all scheduled scholarship program activities to be held on November 2 - 5, 2023 in Williamsburg, Virginia.

Individuals who have already won two James F. Nelson scholarships should contact the scholarship committee chair before applying. The intention of the committee is to not award scholarships more than twice to the same individual except in extraordinary circumstances. Exceptions to this policy will only be made by decision of the committee chair and the NFBV affiliate president.

Completed scholarship applications and all supporting documentation should be sent to the NFB of Virginia scholarship committee chair, Jimmy Morris, at jimorris0116@gmail.com with the words “scholarship application” in the subject line.

Deadline: Applications must be received no later than 11:59pm Monday, October 2, 2023.
Applicants must submit at least one letter of recommendation from a teacher, professor, counselor, or academic advisor who is familiar with their scholarship. Applicants are encouraged to provide additional letters of recommendation or references, including from employers, individuals working in the applicant’s field of interest, or leaders from the blind movement or other groups engaged in social change advocacy. Letters of recommendation may be submitted in email form.

An electronic copy of the applicant’s transcripts must be provided in support of the application. Unofficial transcripts in PDF form from the accredited institution are acceptable.

APPLICATION

Please complete this application by entering your responses after each prompt. All applications must be received by 11:59pm ofMonday, October 2, 2023. All supporting documents (i.e., letters of recommendation and transcripts) must be received by October 2, 2023.

NFBV Scholarship Committee Chair Contact Information

Jimmy Morris
Email: jimorris0116@gmail.com
Phone: (434) 547-2720

1 Start 2 Preview Application 3 Complete

Full Name: *

Email Address: *

Preferred phone number (indicate if mobile or home): *

Street Address (including Apartment number if necessary): *

City: *

State: *

Zip Code: *

Date of birth (MM/DD/YYYY): *

Year of study – i.e., freshman, sophomore, junior, senior, or graduate student: *

Your current or expected field of study (major): *

What is your degree objective? (Associate, bachelor’s, master’s, law degree, or doctorate): *

Name of the high school you attended or attend if you are an incoming freshman, and cumulative GPA:

Name of the college or university you will be attending in the 2021-22 school year: *

If you are not an incoming freshman, please provide your cumulative GPA for the college or university where you currently attend:

List other colleges or universities you’ve attended, degrees earned, and cumulative GPA as appropriate:

What is your long-term career goal? Where do you see yourself in five to ten years? *

Describe extracurricular activities or community service in which you have been or are currently involved: *

Describe the skills and strategies you employ as a blind or visually impaired person to accomplish your goals: *

Provide examples of ways in which you’ve demonstrated leadership. *

This could be in your community, school, place of worship, or as part of a social organization outside the home.

Describe what you hope to gain from the experience of attending the Virginia state convention: *

May we contact you? If so, how?

Please indicate whether one of the leaders of the Virginia state student division may contact you, and by what preferred means – email, phone, text.

How did you hear about the NFB of Virginia James F. Nelson scholarship program? *

Please tell us anything else you think we should know about you in evaluating your application. *

Feel free to list any awards you have received, experiences that reflect who you are or anything else you think we might find of interest.

Reference 1 name:

Reference 1 affiliation:

Reference 2 name:

Reference 2 affiliation:

Reference 3 name:

Reference 3 affiliation:

Recommendation letters:

Attach any recommendation letters Here or email them to jimorris0116@gmail.com. File extensions may include Doc, Docx, or PDF and may not exceed 2 MB.
Files must be less than 2 MB.
Allowed file types: gif jpg jpeg png txt rtf pdf doc docx.

Transcripts:

Attach any transcripts here or email them to jimorris0116@gmail.com. File extensions may include Doc, Docx, or PDF and may not exceed 2 MB.
Files must be less than 2 MB.
Allowed file types: gif jpg jpeg png txt rtf pdf doc docx.

Certification statement: *

By typing my full name and the date below, I confirm that all the information provided above and in related attachments is true and correct to the best of my knowledge.

Date of affirmation (mm/dd/yyy): *

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Scholarship Program

APPLICATION

NFBV Scholarship Committee Chair Contact Information

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