College Station family request votes

College Station family request votes

uPromise offers scholarships and opportunity to save money for college funds

By: Melissa Appel

Issue date: 4/15/08 Section: News

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Media Credit: COURTESY PHOTO

This screen capture from the Kocmoud family's uPromise video submission for a $25,000 scholarship shows their nine children in a 'Brady Bunch' parody. The scholarship, if won, will benefit the eldest sons, 15-year-old identical twins Nathan and Matthew, seen in the top left panels.

[Click to enlarge]

College students know only too well how hard it is to pay for higher education. That's why a College Station Aggie family is asking for their votes to help provide for their sons' college tuition.

College service provider uPromise allows families to start saving for college funds by registering online and making purchases from participating retailers, companies and restaurants. Registration is free, but the rewards can add up quickly. Participating companies include McDonald's, eBay and Bed Bath & Beyond. For each purchase made, registered consumers receive 1-5 percent of the money spent back into their college fund.

"If you register with them and buy certain products, they'll actually put money into your college savings account," said Christopher Kocmoud, Class of 1991, who registered his family. "So it's just another way to save money for college."

Besides the daily convenience, uPromise has an annual contest to award a $25,000 scholarship. In Tuition Tales, applicants must submit a 30-second video explaining why they deserve the scholarship. Between January and March, applicants across the nation submitted videos to a committee that reviewed them and selected 10 finalists. The finalists received word of the selections at the end of March.

The final selection for the scholarship depends on national votes. People can enter the uPromise website, watch the finalists' videos and vote for their favorite. To vote, each person must register by providing a name and e-mail address. Once registered, viewers can return to the site daily to vote again for their favorite. The voting period began April 1 and will end Wednesday.

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Viewing Comments 1 - 10 of 29

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Mike

posted 4/15/08 @ 10:07 AM CST

Let me get this straight we are being asked to help this family get funding for their 9 childrens education because they cant afford it. If you cant afford to raise children then why are you having them? No I am not a heartless person at all, I am just saying that people need to be accountable for their choices. (Continued…)

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Ann

posted 4/15/08 @ 12:35 PM CST

Dear Mike,
This family is not on Welfare, WIC, or any other government support program. They work hard to keep the family alive and thriving. It is not easy to have children, to raise children decently, and this family is succeeding. (Continued…)

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Ames

posted 4/15/08 @ 1:11 PM CST

While some parents do not act responsibly and have more kids than they can afford, why should we punish the children? College is for children to learn and become educated so that they themselves can make responsible choices. (Continued…)

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Amy

posted 4/15/08 @ 2:03 PM CST

Let me clear this up. The Kocmoud's are a family that planned to have these children and rest assured they can afford to support every one of them! They are the most responsible people you may ever run across. (Continued…)

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Tiff

posted 4/15/08 @ 2:03 PM CST

Mike, Maybe you should be reminded that all Aggies support one another. That is why we are the Aggie family. One day when you need it you may realize just how important that Aggie connection can be. (Continued…)

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Lisa

posted 4/15/08 @ 2:09 PM CST

Just a personal comment from someone who knows this family:

There are not many people in the world as wonderful as the Kocmouds, whose children are seeking this college scholarship. (Continued…)

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Margie

posted 4/15/08 @ 2:59 PM CST

Just another comment for "Mike" from another person who knows this family. I am so envious of this family, and of the relationship between these two parents, that they have so much love between them, and have not tired of eachother after so many years and so many wonderful children. (Continued…)

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Anonymous

posted 4/15/08 @ 3:32 PM CST

I'm with Mike on this. Unless the kids excel at something you can't justify giving them 25,000 dollars with a cute little parody of the Brady Bunch. Whether intentional or not on the part of the parents, and whether consciously or unconsciously on the part of voters, the fact that they have nine kids appeals to a need based reasoning for awarding them money. (Continued…)

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Eric Kelly

posted 4/15/08 @ 4:04 PM CST

Mike and Anon...you two don't read so well. This is about a promotion being put on my Upromise. Who ever gets the most votes wins. Someone is going to get it, why not a family from CS that obviously could use it. (Continued…)

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Julia

posted 4/15/08 @ 10:53 PM CST

Julia Clark, Class of '84

Obviously, Mike and "Anon" don't understand the full meaning of the term "scholarship". For their enlightenment, I found this on Wikipedia:

* Merit: . (Continued…)

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