Abbey Schaumberg, Video Director and Scholarship Winner

Full Circle

Before she left for college, Abbey Schaumberg pledged that she would graduate in just 2 years, debt-free. Now a proud 2-year alum of SUNY Oswego, Schaumberg is making waves in the broadcasting world with her newly-attained drone license— and, with the aid of Scholarships.com, absolutely no student debt.

Schaumberg’s interest in film came about in high school. She attended a relatively small school and, as such, was able to build personal connections with her peers and teachers; the broadcasting department there became her community.

“I had a teacher who I took Television Production with, and he was just amazing,” she said, recalling two key mentors from her high school career: Mr. Elliott, who taught her to use camera equipment, and Mr. Hout, who taught her how to write news articles. “Being really close with them and learning so closely about video and broadcasting really got me into it.”

“It was super, super easy. When I logged on, it told me everything I needed to do and when I needed to do it by. Scholarships.com made it so easy.”

So, in addition to her cheerleading and National Honor Society involvement, Schaumberg took up an active role in video production for her school. “We filmed our morning announcements every day; we put them on like a news station, with real cameras with teleprompters [and] a green screen weather wall,” she explained. “It’s something I’d never seen in another high school.”

It was through her high school media classes that Schaumberg learned about SUNY Oswego’s broadcasting major. Her teacher Mr. Elliott, a SUNY alum himself, spoke highly of the program. Knowing Schaumberg’s skill and passion in the field, he recommended she look into applying there.

But as exciting as it was to imagine a future education and career in broadcasting, there was one glaring issue on the horizon: student debt.

“A lot of it really has to do with watching my 2 older sisters go to college; they both had to take out student loans,” said Schaumberg. “As they got older, and as I was becoming a junior in high school, I saw that the student loans were pretty heavy on them, and they struggled with being able to pay them off. I didn’t want that for myself.”

However, junior year of high school was also when Schaumberg started working at the local Taco Bell— and when, through her job, she learned about the Taco Bell Live Más Scholarship. Open to students between the ages of 16 and 26, the Live Más Scholarship is renewable throughout college for a total of $100,000 at the maximum award value. To apply, students just need to submit a short video about themselves and their passions.

For Schaumberg, the decision to apply for the Live Más Scholarship was obvious; it was the perfect fit. She searched up the name of the award online to begin her application. That’s when she found Scholarships.com.

“It was super, super easy. When I logged on, it told me everything I needed to do and when I needed to do it by,” she said. “Scholarships.com made it so easy.”

On Scholarships.com, Schaumberg was not only able to find all the application information for the Live Más Scholarship, but also countless other scholarships for which she was eligible: specific scholarships with small applicant pools, competitive merit awards for those in her field of study, New York-specific scholarships, and more. The best part, though, was the level of detail about each one.

“After I was done doing homework, I’d go and do a scholarship application every day,” she said. “It’s an incredible opportunity to be able to just go online and apply over and over and over...”

“Having the deadline and everything on there specifically was very helpful. I noticed that some of the ones that I applied to locally didn’t have that available for people; you’d have to call or email or message people and ask them,” said Schaumberg. “Scholarships.com made sure to have everything listed out and ready to go, whereas [with offsite applications] I had to jump through hoops to figure out what I needed.”

For a solid week, Schaumberg made it her purpose to apply for scholarships on Scholarships.com: “After I was done doing homework, I’d go and do a scholarship application every day,” she said. “It’s an incredible opportunity to be able to just go online and apply over and over and over...”

Schaumberg found out about her Live Más win by way of a surprise party. Her boss at Taco Bell called her to ask if she would come in and fill out some paperwork; when Schaumberg arrived, she was met with quite a scene.

“I came in, and my boss, my boss’s boss, my boss’s boss’s boss, everyone— literally everybody was there,” she recalled. “They had a cake for me, there were balloons, and then they had the giant check with the amount on it, and I was shocked.”

As more and more Scholarships.com wins rolled in, Schaumberg realized that not only would she be able to attend college at SUNY Oswego, but that she might be able to do so without taking out any student loans.

“With the tuition that I was going to have to pay and the amount that I would win if I renewed [the Taco Bell Scholarship] every year, if I [graduated] in 2 years, I could have it fully paid off. And so, doing that math in my head,” she said, “I just decided to do it.”

It took a courseload chock-full of dual enrollment classes and countless hours of studying, but Schaumberg succeeded. She entered her freshman year at SUNY with a full year of credit already on her transcripts and overloaded her college course schedule to stay on track.

“I would definitely recommend that students use Scholarships.com,” she said. “It got me so much money. It’s the reason that I am now debt-free.”

“I did 18 credit hours every semester. It was nuts,” she said. “And then on top of that, I did an internship the summer between the first and second years [with] the company I work for now. And that internship was what got me the college credit to graduate early… I was also working 2 other jobs.”

Schaumberg’s scholarship wins made her life easier— but they didn’t happen by accident. Her success was hard-earned. “You still have to work hard and keep doing that stuff to better your portfolio, better your resume, and better your future,” she emphasized.

And, naturally, it paid off. Today, Schaumberg is a senior video director at 325 Productions; she’s just obtained her drone license, having passed the test with flying colors thanks to Pilot Institute’s Part 107 course. Having no debt is a privilege she does not take lightly.

“Being so young in the workforce, I’ve noticed a lot of my peers who are older than me are still paying off their loans, and that’s mind-blowing to me,” Schaumberg said. “I’m living such a different life.”

Schaumberg has 2 main pieces of advice for other students hoping to follow in her footsteps. First, a practical suggestion: use Scholarships.com.

“I would definitely recommend that students use Scholarships.com,” she said. “It got me so much money. It’s the reason that I am now debt-free.”

Second, she says, is that perseverance is key.

“Keep going and push through anything that life sends your way. Just keep doing things to better your future… any opportunity that comes up where you think, ‘Could this help me in the future?’ Do it,” she advised. “It will pay off in the long run.”

In Schaumberg’s case, this couldn’t be more true. From the moment she applied for the Taco Bell Live Más Scholarship to the day she took the test for her drone license, the effects of her hard work have continued to blossom in the world around her— most recently, in the form of her first big drone project.

“There’s a new Taco Bell Cantina going up in our area. I’m going to be taking drone footage of it for the grand opening,” she concluded, smiling. She’s already come full circle; she can’t wait to see what’s next.