When active-duty Navy veteran Andrea Forero began searching online for scholarships available to service members, all search results and websites guided her toward the VFW's "Sport Clips Help A Hero Scholarship.”
“I was searching for scholarships available for service members on the internet,” said Forero, an aviation structural mechanic who enlisted in 2014. “And most sites referred to the Help-A-Hero scholarship as one of the best and most available ones.”
Andrea Forero, an Imperial Beach, Calif., native and Navy service member, used VFW’s “Sport Clips Help A Hero Scholarship” to pursue a bachelor’s degree in aeronautical engineering from Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University in Daytona Beach, Florida.Following her extensive research on the scholarship’s positive impact, Forero applied and was soon awarded $3,500 towards her pursuit of a bachelor’s in aeronautical engineering degree from Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University in Daytona Beach, Florida.
Hoping to someday work as a design engineer for a major aerospace company or NASA, Forero understands the road ahead is long but fruitful.
“I still have two years left to complete my bachelor's, and one year after that to complete my master's in aeronautics,” added Forero, who spent nine months between Okinawa, Japan, and Thailand, as well as a deployment aboard the USNS Mercy on humanitarian missions in Hawaii, Guam, Philippines, Timor-Leste, Malaysia and Indonesia.
Like Forero, many veterans in pursuit of higher learning turn to the VFW’s “Sport Clips Help A Hero Scholarship” for a hand up. The scholarship, founded in 2014, provides service members and veterans with the financial assistance they need to complete their educational goals without incurring excessive student loan debt.
Since its inception in 2014, the VFW’s “Sport Clips Help A Hero Scholarship” has awarded $11.55 million to more than 2,567 veterans and service members wanting to further their education.
For applications, details or eligibility guidelines on the VFW’s “Sport Clips Help A Hero Scholarship,” visit vfw.org/assistance/student-veterans-support.