by Mark Smiley | Mar 25, 2016 | Feature Story Middle Left
Try For A Merit Scholarship
by Sara Zessar
Despite the constant increase in college tuition, statistics show that a college degree remains a worthwhile investment in terms of the increase in lifetime earnings. However, many middle and even upper-middle class families are facing a dilemma when it comes to financing their kids’ college education. They are unable to qualify for need-based financial aid, yet they don’t have enough money to pay full-price at a private college.
The total cost of attendance at many private schools now exceeds $60,000, and even if parents have saved diligently, they may not have enough. The average student loan debt for the college Class of 2015 was $35,000; that number, like tuition, increases every year. So what are students to do if their parents can’t afford a college’s “sticker price” and don’t qualify for need-based aid, and the students don’t want to take out tens or hundreds of thousands of dollars in loans to make up the difference?
The answer is merit scholarships. When people hear those words, they often think of scholarships from charitable organizations or corporations or those based on unusual characteristics like being left-handed or having red hair. (Yes, such scholarships exist). However, these private scholarships only account for 4 percent of total financial aid awarded, and they often are small amounts and are not renewable.
In contrast, merit scholarships from colleges may cover as much as the full cost of attendance and often can be renewed for up to four years. These scholarships can be based on a number of factors, including grades, test scores, activities, leadership, community service, and/or demographics. For students who are early in their high school career, taking challenging classes, getting good grades, and participating in activities will improve your likelihood of receiving a merit scholarship.
It’s important to note that colleges in the Ivy League and some other highly selective schools do not offer merit-based aid, so for families who need such aid, students may have to set their sights a little lower. If you are willing to consider schools that are less selective, sometimes only slightly less selective, you may have the opportunity to get merit aid.
To assess your chances of receiving merit money from a college that awards scholarships based on grades and/or test scores, compare your GPA and scores to the average GPA and scores of students who have been accepted to that college. If your numbers are above the averages, you have a good chance of getting merit aid. Another thing that can help increase your chances for a merit scholarship is if you live in a state or region that no or few of the college’s current students call home.
Some colleges automatically consider students for merit scholarships when they apply for admission, while others require students to complete a separate application or applications. Still other schools have scholarships for which students must be nominated. As you’re researching colleges and deciding where to apply, be sure to find out what you must do in order to be considered for a merit scholarship. You wouldn’t want to miss out because you forgot to fill out a special form or write another essay.
Students do not have to be at the top of their high school class or have perfect test scores to receive a merit scholarship. For example, one of my students this year has a weighted GPA of 3.828, with a mix of A’s, B’s, and C’s. He attends a large public high school in Denver and is in the top 40 percent of his class. He got a 30 on the ACT. (A perfect score is 36.) He was offered $22,500/year from The College of Wooster, a small liberal arts college in Ohio.
Even a few thousand dollars per year will help defray the cost of a college education, thus benefiting both students and their parents. Sometimes, students receive so much merit-based aid from a private school that it actually becomes cheaper than attending an in-state public college. Therefore, you should never rule out a college based on its sticker price, as you never know how much scholarship money it might offer.
Sara Zessar, the founder of Discovery College Consulting, LLC, has assisted hundreds of students with the college search and admissions process. With an M.Ed. in counseling, Sara worked for six years as a high school counselor in private, public, and charter schools. She also assists students with the scholarship process, and Discovery College Consulting’s students have received up to $33,000/year in college merit scholarships.Visit www.discoverycollegeconsulting.com.
by Mark Smiley | Mar 25, 2016 | Travel
Hundreds Flock To Collaboration Fest In Denver And Gear Up For Bacon And Beer Classic In April
by Phil Kummer
Special Blend: David Lin and Marks Lanham from Comrade Brewing collaborated with Mike H from Fat Head’s Brewery in Ohio to brew Lupulin Manifesto IPA.
Colorado has been at the heart of the craft beer explosion over the past decade and has over 235 craft breweries. Closer to home in the Cherry Creek/Southeast Denver area one can suck down some craft brewed suds at no fewer than 11 establishments, most of which are no more than a few years old.
Although craft beer is becoming increasingly popular, beer is actually one of the oldest prepared beverages and might have been made as early as 9500 BC, when cereal grains were first harvested. Archeologists have dated beer made from barley to about 3500-3000 BC in western Iran, and hops were first used in Europe around 800 AD by monks. Just about any grain, vegetable or fruit that contains sugar can undergo alcoholic fermentation and has thus been used somewhere around the world to make beer. By 2006 the global beer industry had revenues of about $295 billion, yes that is billion. It’s obvious that what ancient peoples discovered has turned out to be a pretty good idea.
This ancient beverage is now the rage and with all this new popularity comes new career opportunities, the most important being that of brewmaster. To understand this now popular occupation we consulted with David Lin, owner, and Marks Lanham, brewmaster, of the award-winning Comrade Brewing Company. They have a combined total of about 24 years in the craft beer business and most of that time has been on-the-job training. They have been running Comrade since April of 2014.
The passion for beer and beer drinking is fundamental to be a successful Brewmaster and can’t be taught. You can’t get it by going to school. It’s important to love your end product and be proud of it. It means enjoying the beer that you and other craft brewers make and sometimes having a beer for breakfast just because you feel like it.
Once you have harnessed the passion for beer there is still a long way to go to actually making a good tasting craft beer. “We make beer we enjoy drinking and what we drink, we sell,” said David Lin. Being a brewmaster is a unique combination of skills and attitudes that all play a role in one’s ability to make a highly drinkable brew. It’s like being an artist and scientist at the same time, like being left brained and right brained on demand. The brewmaster must have the creativity of a chef to develop new tastes in beer along with the skills and focus of operations director to make sure that the beer comes out just right.
The brewmaster must learn to manage his suppliers which means having good relationships with suppliers around the country to provide agricultural products. Depending on weather and harvest conditions this can be a challenge. It once took David two years of working with a supplier to get a specific kind of hops for his beer. One advantage of working in the craft brewery business is the sense of community among brewers. One brewer coming to the aid of another brewer with a needed ingredient is a common thing and helps foster a unique sense of community.
To highlight this fraternity of craft brewers, Denver recently held its 3rd Annual Collaboration Beer Fest on the club level of Sports Authority Field. Collaboration is all about sharing brewing experience and technique to join the perfect ingredients. Brewers come together to decide exactly what yeast to use with what fruit, what type of malt works best with what barrel, or what hops will contribute to the perfect aroma.
Comrade collaborated with Fat Head’
s Brewery from Portland, Oregon, as well as Cannonball Creek and Station 26 breweries. The Bull & Bush collaborated with Little Machine from Jefferson Park neighborhood in Denver. Recently crowned Best New Brewery in the United States, Weldwerks Brewing out of Greeley, collaborated with Snowbank Brewing Company from Fort Collins, to produce a barrel-aged mocha stout.
Attendees of the fest were able to sample more than 85 craft brews and some are now available in the respective tap rooms. All in all, 151 breweries from five countries and 20 states were on hand to share their rare creations.
Whether a collaboration or in a day’s work, once all of the ingredients are in hand, the brewmaster has to carefully control and monitor a biological process, fermentation, that usually takes a couple of weeks but can be much longer. This means spending a lot time at the brewery, usually 60 to 70 hours a week. This is a totally hands-on type job.
Last, but by no means least, the brewmaster has to be an absolute clean freak because he knows that contamination is the worst thing that can happen to a batch of beer. So the brewmaster spends the majority of his time cleaning tanks and equipment to ensure that everything is clean all the time. Marks 
Lanham remarked, “Cleaning is 95% of the job.”
The craft brewing industry has grown so much that you can now get a degree or certificate at a few colleges here in Colorado and about dozen colleges throughout the U.S. At Metropolitan State University of Denver you can major in Brewery Operations or Brew Pub Operations. Colorado State University offers a BS in Fermentation Science and Technology and Regis University offers a certificate in Applied Craft Brewing. It appears that the art of craft brewing has come of age.
To highlight this art, after drawing sold-out crowds across the country, the Bacon and Beer Classic is coming to Denver on Saturday, April 16, for a unique gastronomic experience inside Sports Authority Field at Mile High.
Bacon and Beer: Sports Authority Field will play host to the Bacon and Beer Classic on April 16, 2016 for the first time. Visit www.baconandbeerclassic.com for more information.
Over 30 local restaurants will provide bacon dishes and over 50 regional breweries will offer craft beer throughout the concourse. Kate Levenstien, founder of Cannonball Productions and the Bacon and Beer Classic, is looking forward to hosting the Classic at Sports Authority Field for the first time. “With some of the best craft breweries in the country, Denver is a dream city for this festival. It is easy to find an incredible selection of local brewers and restaurants. Pair that with die-hard Broncos fans and we’ve got everything all in one spot!”
In addition to the all-star lineup of local breweries and restaurants, a panel of judges will be on site to rate the sips and tastes and award winners in select categories. The restaurant awarded the Best Overall Bacon Dish will go on to compete in the 2016 World Food Championships in Kissimmee, Florida.
So, after you’ve downed a couple of beers at your favorite craft brewery you might reflect on what it actually takes to make your favorite beverage and realize that the brewmaster could be the next rock star in your neighborhood.
by Mark Smiley | Mar 25, 2016 | Feature Story Bottom Left
I get a lot of mail asking me to do a follow up article on Internet dating, specifically Match.com. A few years back I wrote “The Dos and Don’ts of Dating on Match .com,” right here in my column in the GCCC that got a lot of attention. That article is so popular, when you Google the title it pops up on the first page of the search results. Check it out if you have the time.
A lot has changed (format wise) on good old Match.com since I was a member years ago, except surprisingly a lot of the faces remain the same. I’m not entirely sure if that’s because match.com doesn’t delete expired membership profiles or if there are slew of lifetime daters on there. I’d guess it’s a mixture of both. Regardless there is a plethora of singles ready to mingle — maybe too many. I say too many because I can see how the abundant amount of daters on Match.com could be overwhelming and consuming for those who are looking for an immediate connection.
Ladies, I have no idea how to navigate match.com as a woman so I guess this article is for the guys. Although I know my female readers are nosey as hell, a curious bunch who will want to read this anyway. Guys, the following are just a few thoughts that I have on what I’ve found to be effective while I’m clicking through the vast sea of love starved Internet daters. Remember the same dating rules apply on the Internet as they do in real life. If you think you’re going to attract a different “type” of woman just because you’re on the Internet, you’re not. Water finds its own level, and so do men and women.
- Don’t expect a message back from every woman you contact. In fact if they’re not interested in you they will just plain ignore you. Match.com has this nifty little feature that allows you to know if a lady has read the message you sent them. DO NOT email a woman more than twice if she has read your correspondence and never replied. She’s not interested in you! Move on to greener pastures where you’re not spinning your wheels.
- Ride the cocky/confident line the best you can. The simple sweet, I’m a nice guy approach goes nowhere. I can imagine there are a lot of guys on Match who are just trying to find the flavor of the day so it’s very important to try and ride the middle, or “cockident.”
- Don’t put too much time in reading profiles. Here’s why, you look at a woman profile and you’re getting into it. You’re looking at all of her pictures, you’re reading everything she wrote about herself word for word, you’re really putting some effort into getting to know her first so you can contact her with something witty pertaining to her. Sweet! You found a gal you’re into because of her profile, you’re even imagining a couple of dates with her in your head, and you’re into her, email her! She doesn’t even respond. Instead look at basic things in her profile like pics, age, education, whatever is important to you on a basic level then shoot a quick email to her. If she responds then read her profile more in depth. There are too many women on Match to invest your time until she expresses interest in you.
- So what do you say to a woman in opening? I have found it effective to comment on one of her profile pictures. Don’t comment on her necessarily, comment on something she’s doing or something else that’s interesting in the picture. Don’t you dare hint sexual innuendo right out of the gate. That’s sure disaster. Comment on her dog, where the picture was taken, you get the idea.
- Always end your correspondence with a question. It is easy to lose someone even if you’ve been talking to her back and forth a few times. Remember women get slammed with tons of guys trying to get at them. Their email is abundant. You need to make sure she feels a need to immediately react to your email when she reads it. That’s why having a question in your email is important. She is more likely to follow up with an answer to your question rather than come up with a retort to a statement you make to her. Here’s an example: “I had the best dinner last night at the most amazing restaurant in Denver. They had the best food, amazing drinks and they gave you a foot rub while you ate.” She might read that and want to respond but in her mind there in no urgency… She can read more email and circle back later, she might wait to come up with something witty and respond later, she might have even decided she was done talking to you. But you’ll never know because you didn’t ask her a question. Now she is talking to 10 other guys and forgot all about you just because you didn’t end your email with, “have you ever gotten a foot rub at a restaurant?”
I could go on forever here but my words are limited to under a thousand. I’d be happy to take any specific questions or feedback if you want to email me at sheikofcherrycreek@gmail.com. Enjoy the beginning of spring and get ready for a killer event I’m throwing on May 21. Stand by for more info!
Your pal, Sheik!
