Fashion scholarship brings students to the runway

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Mac Harden

Fashion student Natalie Forbess goes to work on her sewing machine. These fashion students work hard in the chance of gaining a scholarship to college.

Haute couture demands brilliant designers with wild imaginations, but with thousands of teenagers fantasizing about becoming the next Vera Wang, their chances are slim. However, the Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandise (FIDM) has just increased that percentage.

Every year, FIDM offers high school fashion clubs the opportunity to win scholarship money to attend their college. One junior will receive a full year scholarship, two seniors will win a $5000 scholarship and one club member will take a $2000 scholarship. Fashion Club discovered this prospect through fashionclub.com, a hub for aspiring fashionistas.

“To get prepared for this scholarship, we have been learning about sewing techniques, designs and colors, which are very important in the fashion industry. In the class, we spend all year getting ready for fashion school,” Mrs.Becker said. “By helping students learn about fashion in high school, it will help them discover their strengths and weaknesses in designing. They can become more familiar with the art of fashion.”

Students in Fashion Club share their opinions about receiving the scholarship and getting accepted into the institute.

“I think this will be an incredible opportunity because not only is it great to get a scholarship to a fashion school for a year, but it will also be reassuring to know that you get to go to a college and pursue your passion,” junior Sarah Brenner said. “It would be very rewarding to get a scholarship for fashion, considering how competitive it is to get into college anyway. The school provides a great location where the fashion industry is large, so being in the area will allow any students who attend to take risks, intern and maybe even get a job while attending the college.”

Most importantly, the scholarship will let them chase their fashion dream.

“I have been surrounded by fashion my whole life, and if you love something and you’re good at it, why not chase your dreams?” junior Keely Brownell said. “I can’t imagine what it would be like to win. It would just be great to know that all your hard work has paid off, and you can go study and get a career in what you love. That’s the ultimate goal, to get a job involving fashion. That’s when you know that you’ve really made it.”