We are excited to announce the December 2024 Financial Goals Scholarship winner is Corban-Arch! Congratulations!
"I am beyond grateful for the opportunity to share the story of my financial journey. It has been a rough ride all things considered, but programs and scholarships like this, prove that the journey is worth it. I am thankful to be selected winner of the 1st Financial Bank USA Financial Goals Scholarship. I will be sure to remember this blessing, and keen to be a good steward of it." - Corban-Arch G.
Setting and achieving financial goals as a student can kick-start good money habits that will carry into your life post-graduation. Whether you’ve saved money to pay for college, opened a credit card to build credit, or eliminated a poor spending habit, your financial wins are worth celebrating—no matter the size. In his essay, Corban-Arch shares his biggest financial achievement so far.
"My most significant financial achievement so far was paying off a semester’s worth of room and board fees for college, debt free. My name is Corban-Arch Graham, and I am 18 years old. My financial goal as of today, is to graduate from college with the least amount of debt possible.
I graduated from high school at seventeen and had my eyes set on higher education. I knew I wanted to pursue a career in law, so college was a must. There was a huge obstacle in the way however; I had to find a way to pay for it! I scrambled to get jobs at various establishments, and was successful. I rode my bike to work just about every day for months on end, while playing soccer and maintaining high grades in school. I was determined to come up with the funds. It was my chief aim to store up as much money as possible to offset the costs of obtaining tertiary education. I saved as much as I could. My rationale was this: “Maybe I will not be able to pay for all of my college expenses, but I can at least try.” I told myself that I would not fall into the mental trap of simply walking into debt because I did not have the funds on hand. It became my mission to pay off as much of my expenses as I could, regardless of how much it was. Every bit counts.
Thankfully, I obtained an academic scholarship that covered some of my costs. I decided to go to college. When I began, I had the same mission at heart; to graduate from college with as little debt as possible. I thought about it all the time. I ended up landing a job as a professor’s assistant. Thankfully, I was paid for that role. I worked every single day of the semester, and saved a lot. I learned throughout that period, that habits like purchasing sodas from the vending machines is a very expensive endeavor. I learned from the time I started saving for college up until now, that the ability and willingness to save big, pays large dividends.
After a long time of working toward minimizing debt, I was able to pay for all of my room and board fees for the first semester of my sophomore year of college, completely out of pocket! That was by far, my most significant financial achievement in my life. We all know how expensive a college education is. To be able to pay for an entire semester out of pocket as a result of your own hard work, is a big deal. The steps I took to achieve this glorious dream was to work, save the money earned, and forget about it (at least for the short term). And it worked! It is extremely important to have financial goals, and work hard toward them, that is the only approach that will guarantee success.”
Established in the year 1910, 1st Financial Bank USA (1FBUSA) provides quality community banking services in South Dakota, credit card and other financial services to college students and college graduates, and construction lending to builders, developers, and investors from coast to coast. 1FBUSA will award a $2,000 scholarship to a new winner each month. View full rules and eligibility at 1fbusascholarship.com.
