About 137 students and parents gathered at the Paul D. Camp Community College Hobbs Suffolk Campus on Kenyon Road earlier this month to learn more about scholarships and how to apply for them.

“We had students from all of the college’s service areas, representing public and private schools,” said Susan Stubenrauch about the Scholarship Night session. She serves as PDCCC high school career coach, adviser and adjunct faculty member.

“The number of attendees tells me that there is a need for this kind of event. We were excited to be able to offer this free to everyone.”

The event featured a presentation by Scholarship Sharing Founder and President Lorraine SantaLucia, who is also from Hampton Roads. Scholarship Sharing is a nonprofit organization dedicated to helping Virginia and Washington, D.C., students connect with resources that will help pay for college.

SantaLucia presented strategies for students to graduate debt-free, as she was able to do after securing $65,000 in scholarships and grants to cover her full tuition at Virginia Commonwealth University.

“Participants learned about other financial resources as well,” said Stubenrauch.

Sgt. Casey Cameron and Sgt. William Winn of the Virginia National Guard delivered an informative presentation titled “FAFSA and Military Career Options.” In addition, PDCCC’s Mary Ellen Gleason, testing administrator and adjunct English instructor, delivered valuable information about writing college essays.

According to Stubenrauch, the event has the potential to become an annual event.

“This was very successful and provided students with valuable information that will help them reach their educational goals,” she said. “This enables the students to concentrate on their career path a little more instead of worrying how they are going to pay for their education. That is a big point of stress and oftentimes a dealbreaker for many of our students.”

For more information about the High School Career Coach Program at PDCCC, contact Stubenrauch at sstubenrauch@pdc.edu.