Over at theory.isthereason, Kevin blogs about his life story - how he managed to avoid local, i.e. Singaporean, scholarships and financed his graduate and post-graduate education in the United States through alternative means. Basically, after his Bachelors degree, he took up a Graduate Assistantship (something like Teaching and Research Assistantships) which pay a monthly allowance and provide tuition waivers.

Not only do we have one personal route to graduate education in the United States mapped out, we have another in the comments section of the same post by Biao. There are references to Optional Practical Training (OPT) and Curriculum Practical Training (CPT) - two means of working above the alloted hours for a student.

Life stories are generally either cliche or too dramatic. This one is neither, and even serves as a highly informative post on how scholarships aren’t everything! Read and be inspired.