For most, senior year (and for some, even earlier years of high school) likely entails hours of scholarship hunting, filling out of scholarship applications and waiting to hear back from scholarships committees in anticipation, the possibility of rejection looming always nearby.

For Manhattan High senior Alyssa Frey, receiving a letter explaining that she was not chosen as a recipient of of the Prudential Spirit of Community Award wasn’t downfall, as despite this, word of her outstanding community service record was passed on to a national level.

As a result, instead of being chosen as a recipient of the scholarship she applied for, Frey received the President’s Volunteer Service Award, which included special acknowledgement of her outstanding work by President Barack Obama, himself, in the form of a congratulatory letter.

Frey, who plans to major in Theatre while minoring in Leadership Studies at Kansas State University, beginning this fall, believes that establishing relationships with her future professors is will help her be more successful in a college setting.

“In the end, it was better that I got the award I did get because I may not have gotten that $1000 scholarship, but when I received the award, I had to give a little speech in front of the Leadership Studies professors at K-State, and since I’m minoring in that next year, I feel like I’ll end up having a better chance of having good relationships and potentially getting better scholarships next year through them,” Frey said. “Before I’m even a freshman at K-State, they’ll know who I am, and they know I work hard.”

Frey, who, with the help of her mother, began searching for applicable scholarship opportunities and writing essays for scholarship applications her junior year and has applied for an estimate of just over 60 scholarships and grants since, explained that while seeking out and applying for scholarships may be time-consuming, simply applying for some, even if they seem unattainable, is worth it.

“It’s free money. If you can go to school and not be in debt when you’re out of it and not have that weight on your shoulders, then applying can really only help you,” Frey said. “If you don’t have to worry so much about paying for school, you can focus on actually learning. You have nothing to lose in applying, and you might get ones you didn’t think you would.”

Frey has received three scholarships and two grants thus far, and plans to take advantage of any applicable scholarship opportunities and to continue her community service work with an extra boost in confidence that her work truly does make a difference.

“Getting recognized for all the work I’ve done — it’s a really good feeling. President Obama recognizes that the work I do is good, and that encourages me to continue doing it,” Frey said. “I mean, I don’t need a letter from the president to keep doing volunteer service because I love it anyway, but this is  definitely a step in a good direction.”