“Who wouldn’t want free money?” Veronica Castro, asked.

Castro served as the host of a scholarship workshop, which took place on Thursday, Oct. 22, in room SS 139.

Many students, who are on the verge of transferring out to a four year university, showed up to listen to Castro teach them the right path to receive a scholarship.

Contacted based upon their amount of credits, students were informed about the workshop via email.

The Re-entry Resource Program and the director of the program, Shannon Estrada, sponsored the workshop.

Estrada explained, “I wish someone would have helped me when I was a student, and a lot of students do not know how to apply or how easy it could be. I thought you had to be an athlete or have a 4.0 GPA, but that is actually not the case.”

She offers the workshop two times per semester and wishes more students were aware of them.

One way that the workshop helps students is by listing them the various items needed to apply for a scholarship.

Such items include, transcripts (official or unofficial), essay/personal statement and proof of financial need.

She also emphasized the importance of acquiring a letter of recommendation and explained that a letter of recommendation should come from an individual capable of speaking on the applicant’s behalf in areas like the applicant’s academic performance, leadership skills and community involvement.

She advised to not rush any forms or letters that are sent out during the application process and to make sure that there are no spelling mistakes or grammatical errors.

Castro expressed how important it is to get a head start on transcripts and to meet all the deadlines, as some scholarships could take up to an entire year to process.

Estrada informed students that the biggest scholarships come from native american tribes.

Student and child development major Katalina De Hoyos said, “I didn’t know about these workshops, and I thought it was very helpful because I didn’t know how many different places give scholarships.”

De Hoyos was a recipient of a scholarship in the past, but was informed, through the workshop, that she could still receive more.

She was awarded the Live Your Dream scholarship, which is a scholarship for women that are the primary financial source of their household.

“It’s free money, and who doesn’t want free money?” De Hoyos said.

Another student that found the workshop to be helpful was Sharon Morrison, she heard of the workshop through Facebook.

“Now I know where to go and what to do for scholarships. It’s like Cerritos College took my hand [and] is making sure I know where to go,” Morrison said.