Aladdin Foods has cooked up a little something for Joseph Bissue.
The senior was awarded the Aladdin Food Services Scholarship on Sept. 23.
“Being able to win this scholarship, moving forward with my education, it would help take some stress from my father since he is the only one helping me through college,” Bissue said. “It has been a rough and rocky road to get this far, but with support from him, I have made it, and I want to help him out in every way possible I can.”
Bissue will receive $5,000 ($2,500 per semester) and has worked with Aladdin for two years.
“Originally starting with Aladdin Food Services, I wanted to have experience in a cooking environment since that is one of my favorite things to do,” he said.
Bissue currently works as the supervisor at the Pizzeria on campus.
After graduation, he hopes to continue working his way up the pyramid ladder into a manager position and wants to learn how to run a business.
For Aladdin Food’s student employees, along with others on campus, Bissue has a message:
“My message would be, ‘Don’t be afraid to apply for a scholarship. Everything helps, and nothing can hurt you when it comes to scholarships.'”
Bissue is originally from Ghana, Accra, located in West Africa. He moved to the United States and Richmond 11 years ago.
From his freshman through junior years here, Bissue played football. This year, he stopped playing football to focus on getting his business management degree.
This is the second straight year, Aladdin Food is sponsoring its up to $2,500 per semester scholarship ($5,000 annually) for their student employees.
Twenty students taking classes at Ferrum College work for Aladdin.
“We hear about the struggles our student employees are going through with keeping up with paying for school,” Food Services Director Levi Briggs said. “And we wanted to help,”
To apply for the scholarship, a student must be a junior or senior, employed by Aladdin for at least one semester before the scholarship application, and must continue their employment for the duration of the semester the scholarship is awarded.
An applicant must also write a 500-1,000-word essay on one of four essay topics.
The fall semester application window was from Aug. 14 to Sept. 1.
“The school reads the entries and picks the winners,” Briggs said. “They are allowed to split each semester and award amount.”
Students meeting application requirements and not winning or submitting on time can reapply in the spring semester.
“After our first year of awarding the scholarships and talking to those winners, they both mentioned feeling relief they were able to catch up with their bill or finish having it paid off,” Briggs said. “Aladdin cares about student workers, and we wanted to find a way to help.”
Applications for the spring semester open Jan. 7 and close Feb. 3. The winner will be announced Feb 24.
