[Njabs-talk] Minutes for Conference Call on Sunday, February 19, 2012

[Benjamin Vercellone]

NJABS Minutes for Sunday, February 19, 2012

8:02 pm - Call began.

Patti Gregory chang is our guest speaker and she is in central time. She 
is the chair of the National Federation of the Blind scholarship 
committee. Evelyn welcomes us. She hopes we had a good Valentine's Day. 
We discuss the NFB Scholarships.

8:03 PM - Mark Colasurdo recites the NFB pledge.

8:03 -- Evelyn Introduces Patti Gregory Chang. She begins by asking us 
questions. Do we know what the 4 basic qualifications are?

1.We have to be blind. This means legally blind in both eyes. This is 
2200 acuity. It is the same specifications as for Social Security.

2.You have to be a full time student in an accredited US University. You 
can be from Puerto Rico. You have to be in a degree program. You can't 
be attending one of our centers in the fall. Community College is ok. 
Online schools are ok.

3. You have to be a resident in the US. We are a United States organization.

4. You have to go to the entire convention. If you are on dialysis, this 
is an exception. This is the most important qualification. You will have 
Exposure to national speakers. You will have to attend the general 
sessions, the State events and also the Scholarship events.

What do you have to present? If you're a high school student now, you 
need to submit your transcript. This is for College too. Your grades are 
required. They want to look at how you did. They need your SAT or ACT 
grades if you are a graduating high school Senior. Usually you don't 
need to send official documents because this is online. She says they 
Encourage online submissions. You get a conformation that includes 
everything you submitted.

You need 2 letters of recommendation.

You need a letter from the state president. You ?Can contact one of 2 
presidents if you are in 2 states. He can upload the info. This is the 
only part you can never view.

You need Proof of blindness. Make it a short document from a trusted 
source like a state president for example.

Doing the process online allows you to do it up to March 31. You can 
edit it. Then you Hit save.

You need to write an essay. You need to proofread your essay. Patti is 
surprised at how many people say I won't win.

You ought to apply. She said it's not about your GPA. Many great 
applicants had poor essays and therefore lost. Follow directions and 
proofread.

When the Committee meets, they decide who wins. They do not decide who 
gets what.

Scholarship winners get a package. Ray Kurzweil gives items including 
$1000, a KNFB Reader Mobile which is on a Nokia phone, and I believe 
K1000 software.

We Pick our next generation leaders, or at least some.

If you come to convention, some of your expenses will be paid but not 
all. You receive a card that you can use at convention with $350. You 
may need your own money too. You get most expenses paid.

Some people get assistance to convention without winning the scholarship.

Patti says that if you have any more questions, please contact her 
secretary Loraine Rovig or herself.

Loraine's number is the national center's number: 4106599314, with the 
extension 2415.

Patty's number is 773-307-6440.

Her email is pattichang at att.net.

She thinks that many should win from each state. The program tries to be 
Diverse in majors and it tries to balance with Females and males. It is 
not rigid. The essay is the most critical and next is the President's 
letter. Don't pick someone to write a letter who says you're ok. The 
person needs to know you. You should give Examples of character and 
academic prowess. Concerning proof of blindness, it is a matter of yes 
or no, not a long doctor's letter.

Go out and get more people to apply. We need more applicants. NJ usually 
has a lot more applicants by now. It is not big yet this time. March 31 
is the deadline. Everything needs to be in the offices. Concerning 
online, applications, if there is a lot of traffic on the last day, you 
will have trouble. The West coast gets a couple more hours to apply 
because of the time zone. The Time zone matters. You should abide by the 
time zone from which you submit your application.

There will be Breakfast on the day before the convention. You will 
rotate, and there will be 5 students with 5 mentors in each setting. It 
is like speed dating. At this point the scholarships will be assigned to 
the people, since there are scholarships ranging from $3000 to $12000. 
Being shy does not help much. You will speak at the board meeting. Watch 
what you say and how you interact. There May be one sticky point. 
Concerning the Top prize, it is a little harder to decide who wins. The 
committee makes the decision. They do the best with the information that 
they have.

Not winning the $12000 does not make you bad. Please do not complain I 
only got $3000. That is not bad. It is Hard for Patti to be Patient with 
that. You won. If you already won, apply again. There are 5 or 6 Jacobus 
tenBroek Awards given each year, which is the award for a scholarship 
winner of more than once. If you are applying for a tenBroek Award, you 
need to say what you have done since the last scholarship. The Bar is 
higher. 2 years difference is what the Committee likes to see.

You should apply. A lot of our winners applied 4 times and did not win. 
Patti won the fourth time. People need to apply. Get the word out. 
California has 6 applicants already. New Jersey has 1 already.

The committee is not impressed by I'm special. Stress what you have done 
and talk about your leadership ability. The scholarship is all about 
Academics and leadership. Your leadership doesn't have to be in NFB. It 
can be in a church group or in other things. What have you already done 
that shows this?

8:34 pm - Evelyn thanked Patti.

Patti left.

Send this information to let anybody and everybody know.

Evelyn asked why we haven't applied yet. She feels like we still should 
apply. This is partly because of the ability to get partial assistance, 
even if you don't win. Mark went to the college leadership program. This 
was like a social opportunity. He talked to some people. This was 
Separate from the college scholarship group. Evelyn says Mark was 
recommended by her and Joe. The scholarship alumni get help with going 
to Washington Seminar next year. Jason and Maxine went to Washington 
Seminar this year.

About 8:40 pm - Jason got to talk to representative, and he and Maxine 
got to discuss the three issues.

Evelyn mentioned Linda Zani Thomas. She and Johanna will be doing a 
Looking Good without Looking on March 31, 2012. The event will be at 
Immaculate Heart in Ridgewood. She needs to know how many more girls 
will be attending.

Concerning the scholarship process, Joe Ruffalo will ask what you are 
part of. You can mention NJABS. You should look for leadership skills. 
Shafeka said she was interviewed. It is all about the leadership thing. 
Make sure you emphasize that you will stay in the organization. Joe 
writes really good letters.

We did the roll call.

Members present:

Evelyn Valdez --President.

Shafeka Hashash -- Vice President.

Benjamin Vercellone -- secretary.

Mark Colasurdo -- Treasurer.

Maxine Lomax -- Board Member.

Jason Capadi.

8:51 pm -- call ended.

Respectfully submitted,

Benjamin Vercellone,

Secretary.