Backyard Bash helps students fill the 'gap'

University of North Georgia (UNG) sophomore Jack Blake told a crowd of 100 that scholarship money helps with funding his college education.

Blake, a sophomore from Alpharetta, Georgia, works full time as a full-time student while pursuing a degree in computer science. He told the audience of Backyard Bash, the signature event of UNG’s Cumming Campus, the significance of scholarships.

"Scholarships are infinitely helpful with the general cost and having economic freedom going in and out of college," Blake said at the May 8 event. "The pricing here is amazing, compared to most places, but it's a lot of money to bear. Student loans are daunting and tie you down economically for a lot of years. Scholarships give you the freedom to pursue what you want to, and you can work full time in tandem."

The Backyard Bash helps fund a needs-based scholarship on the Cumming Campus. This is the second time the event has been held and it brought in $ 5,747 to support this scholarship. The goal is to award as many scholarships as funding allows each semester, Dr. Ken Crowe, Cumming Campus executive director, said.

"The scholarship is not a full ride," Crowe said. "It's set up for a max of $500 per semester. It's something like a gap scholarship. A lot of students have HOPE and Pell, but still there are other expenses to be covered. We hope that our scholarship can cover some of those additional expenses that may impede a student from actually being able to attend."

Blake began his college career as a dual-enrolled freshman and is hoping to acquire his dream job in the political arena. He is a Student Government Association (SGA) vice president. Even with a full class load, he works full time to pay for living expenses like car insurance, gas and housing.

"It's a lot of money that piles up really fast, so really, any scholarship money helps immensely to lessen the burden," he said.

Joe Bouk, a freshman from Cumming, Georgia, said that his scholarships have encouraged him to work hard to keep them. Bouk said he plans to pursue a degree in computer science and use it to go into business software sales.

"It just makes me grateful for the opportunity, but it also requires me to work hard to keep it. And so that's obviously an incentive to do well," he said. "School is obviously a stressful thing, whether it's finals or papers. Scholarships provide a really good opportunity to not have to stress about money because you're already stressing about so many other things."

Bouk, drummer for local band Ballad, along with twins Alex and Sammi Hamilton, provided the evening's entertainment. A full-time student as well, Bouk also manages to fit practice and other performances into his schedule.

New at this year's event were three community partners: Creative Enterprises, whose staff served dessert; Forsyth Central High School’s Future Farmers of America (FFA) who created floral centerpieces; and Ballad.