Chemistry graduate students Anna Szwedzinska, left, and Nishotha Anuraj look through items at a yard sale Tuesday afternoon at the Union. Money earned at the sale will go toward a scholarship for nontraditional students.
Students looking for cheap stuff for their rooms were in luck while benefiting a scholarship Tuesday at the Mildred B. Erickson yard sale in the Main Lounge of the Union.
More than 50 people in the East Lansing community donated household items, which ranged from pillows and linen to pots and pans, throughout the summer months.
All proceeds from the yard sale go toward the Mildred B. Erickson scholarship, which aids nontraditional adult students returning to school after a break in their education.
The first yard sale was at the same time last year and made around $550. Items ranged from 25 cents to $3.
“I like the low prices,” said hospitality business senior Nelly Tomas, who found out about the sale from a sign on campus. “It means I can buy more.”
“I like this vase (but) if it is too expensive, I won’t buy it,” said Yirang Liu, an engineering freshman, while browsing at the sale.
Liu and other international students received an e-mail informing them of the yard sale.
“The most popular items seem to be kitchen cutlery and storage containers like Tupperware,” said Barbara Spearman, a Mildred B. Erickson board member.
“Some international students like to buy teapots because they drink a lot of tea at home.”
The money raised goes toward scholarship winners who range from their late 20s to early 50s.
In recent years, however, the applicants are getting older.
Spearman said some are going back to school to start new careers or complete graduate school or a new bachelor’s degree program.
“Older students don’t have as many scholarship or loan opportunities like the younger students do,” she said. “So we try to help them out.
“These students have many different reasons for putting their education on hold.
Some leave school to start families while others don’t have money to finance their education.”
The fellowship has provided scholarships to nontraditional students since 1974, according to the fellowship’s brochure.
The scholarship’s namesake, Mildred B. Erickson, returned to school to complete her education after the death of her husband, MSU Provost Clifford E. Erickson, after whom Erickson Hall is named.
The fellowship offers about 10 scholarships per semester for adult students, who receive anywhere from the cost of one class to 12 credits.
“We try to help as many people as we can,” said fellowship board member Patricia Shropshire.
“If we give more than 10 scholarships in a semester, we might need to cut back the next semester.”
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