Milca Bellegarde, a junior at the Florida State University, is a TIF Direct Scholarship recipient who is taking great advantage of the opportunities that college life is providing her. The most recent example of this? Milca has been selected as the head resident of her student residence.

The Southern Scholarship Foundation — which serves qualified students at Florida State University, Florida A & M University, the University of Florida, and Florida Gulf Coast University — provides housing for its scholars. Milca is one of those scholars. Here’s an official description of the Southern Scholarship Foundation's scholarship houses and the role of the head resident:

“Each scholarship house is home to nine to 29 students representing a variety of backgrounds and cultures. Living in this home-like environment, the recipients share the duties and responsibilities necessary to maintain a household. Each house is assigned a head resident (usually a senior or graduate student) who is responsible to the Foundation for the effective operation of the house through its elected officers and members. Each house works together to establish their semester budget, plan and shop for their menus, cook, clean, and study together, gaining valuable life skills and fostering lifelong friendships. Sometimes, the most a student would have to pay is $950 a semester. This is a bargain compared to on-campus housing, which costs thousands per semester. You must hold and maintain a 3.0 or higher to qualify and be selected for this scholarship program.”

Milca’s house will be home to 20 female students.

“This role takes characteristics such as leadership, responsibility, high academic achievement, and reliability, to name a few,” says Nancy Omonte, TIF’s College Success program manager. “Congratulations to Milca for achieving such an honorable position with the Southern Scholarship Foundation. We are so proud of her!”