Local woman, St. Charles grad creates scholarship to help struggling students get aid, advice for college
Prospects encouraged to apply by March
Dealing with the ups and downs of high school life was quite a challenge but is something that 18-year-old Zamira Flucas believes was worth fighting for.
Despite not earning the best grades due to peer pressure, Flucas worked hard to beat the odds and received a scholarship from the Charles County Board of Education. She graduated from St. Charles High School this year and is now looking to help other students like her survive the challenges of high school.
“My high school experience was a little shaky. I didn’t do as good as I should have done because I was too busy trying to fit into the wrong crowd,” Flucas said. “But as my high school years went on, it slowly but surely got better. It was a learning experience. I had to learn who my friends are and understand the fact that this was a [stepping stone] to me going to college and into adulthood. I also had to understand that it was time for me to get serious and consider what college I wanted to go to, and try to find money for school.”
After realizing that it was time to make a change for the better and get serious about her future, Flucas, along with her younger sister, founded “It’s My Time” in 2017 while still in high school to educate her peers on how to get free money for college.
Flucas hosted her first college prep workshop this past July, in which she informed upperclassmen about the differences between being ready to go to college versus just wanting to go. In addition to doing school events, Flucas also conducted live interviews this year with several individuals including members of the Maryland Higher Education Committee.
“I want all students who feel hopeless to know that they can do it and never give up,” Flucas said. “I felt hopeless in high school because I didn’t have the high [grade point average] GPA. It was really hard for me to find scholarship money, but I did it.”
Disappointed by the lack of scholarship opportunities for students with lower grades, Flucas took it upon herself to start a scholarship specifically geared toward struggling students.
“I didn’t graduate with the GPA that I wanted to graduate with. It was hard for me to find scholarships,” said Flucas, a business administration major at Bennett College in North Carolina where she is attending her freshman year for free. “So, I want to give children the courage that even though they don’t have a 3.0 GPA or higher, they are still able to get a scholarship.”
Flucas’s scholarship, which she named “How to Survive High School Chronicles,” will be offered to one student at St. Charles High School with a GPA ranging from a 2.0 to 2.9. Candidates have until March 2019 to submit an application with a 750-word essay online at https://www.itsmytime. life/saint-charles-highscholarship.
“The only requirement that they would have to have is creativity. When you do your essay, make it creative — anything that you can bring to the table,” Flucas said. “It’s a starting point. Money is money. You don’t necessarily have to have a high GPA to receive this scholarship and that’s why I decided to do this.”
More than 20 students have applied as of Oct. 19. Flucas said she hopes the extended deadline will encourage more students to apply and give them a sense of confidence.
“Believe it or not, the children who do not have the best GPAs are afraid to go online and even look. They’re really scared just like [Zamira] was,” said Flucas’s mom, Fe Flucas-Edwards. “That’s why the scholarship is open for so long — just to give that student, who feels like they don’t have hope, an opportunity to see something that’s actually for them.”
Flucas is now seeking seniors from St. Charles High School who want to become “It’s My Time” ambassadors, a role she said would entail educating others on life after high school as well as helping them come to terms with the feelings and emotions experienced along the way.
Starting this month, Flucas will also host live chats via conference call every other Thursday, from 7-8 p.m. EST, to share tips and insight about college life. Discussions will include preparing for and going to college for free, coping with separation from parents, the correct way to complete scholarship applications, which websites to avoid and other topics of general interest.
“I feel ecstatic. I’m very, very proud of her,” Edwards said. “When the time came for her to get out of high school, she realized not only how unprepared she was but also [that] a majority of her peers [were unprepared]. So she decided to come up with a college prep workshop, find free money and just try to find a way to go to school and still graduate without being in debt.”
Flucas credits her alma mater, whom she said is one of the best high schools in Charles County, for helping to mold her into the person that she is today. She plans on hosting another college prep workshop at St. Charles High School in January 2019.
“I felt as though nobody would give me money because of my GPA,” she said. “My advice would be to keep your head up. In order to make a change, you have to make a change for yourself. If you are a student that’s currently struggling in high school, get into the mindset of ‘I want to do better for myself and, therefore, want to make a difference. I want to make better grades. I want to go to college and I want money for college.’ Do better for yourself and nobody else but yourself.”
For more information about Flucas’s scholarship, her company or live chats, call 301-379-6319.