Introducing the Jack & Julie Narcolepsy Scholarship

Jack and Julie Narcolepsy Scholarship LogoToday, I’m thrilled to unveil the Jack & Julie Narcolepsy Scholarship, the first-ever scholarship supporting students with narcolepsy while also raising awareness about narcolepsy in high school and collegiate settings. Beginning in 2014, one scholarship of $1,000 will be awarded to a high school senior who plans to attend a four-year university and exemplifies courage and hope while living with narcolepsy.  Download Scholarship Info & Application [PDF]

Introduction Video:

I’m so honored and excited to partner with Jack and the Graham family to found this scholarship program. This is an important step toward recognizing and rewarding students for the challenges they overcome with narcolepsy. 

All application submissions are due March 15, 2014. Please read FULL application for details. Any questions can be emailed to narcolepsyscholarship@gmail.com. Please spread the word about this exciting new opportunity! 

Important Dates:
  • March 15, 2014: All Applications Due
  • May 1, 2014: Recipient Chosen
  • Fall 2014: Recipient Enters College

A special thank you to Jack and the Graham family for making this possible, and Alex Withrow for his expert video production. 

Download Scholarship Info & Application [PDF]

29 Comments

  1. Jill on December 29, 2013 at 1:18 am

    You are so amazing!!!! Thank you Julie!!! I’m spreading word on FB and Twitter. You are amazing!!!!!!!

    • julie on December 29, 2013 at 9:38 pm

      Thank you for spreading the word, Jill! You’re the best. 🙂

  2. Geraldine on December 29, 2013 at 2:10 am

    You are SIMPLY AWSOME! Thank you Julie!

    • julie on December 29, 2013 at 9:38 pm

      My pleasure. Thank you for your support, Geraldine!

  3. Sable Harris on December 29, 2013 at 4:00 pm

    I think it is unfortunate that the scolarship is only for high school seniors. I was not diagnosed until I was 22 and had areadly quit college because of narcolepsy. Now that I am on medication I am back in college and a scolarship like this would help me out a lot.

    • julie on December 29, 2013 at 9:44 pm

      Thank you for your feedback, Sable. I think you are incredible for retuning to school now – what a great role model for overcoming adversity! I’m cheering for you.

      It’s our hope to expand the scholarship in the future, but we chose the high school senior limitation for this inaugural year to ensure that we can carefully handle all applications with proper care, given our current volunteer support. I hope you will join me in celebrating this important first step toward greater support for students with narcolepsy and recognize the generosity of those that are giving their time and resources to make this first step forward.

      • Sable Harris on December 30, 2013 at 6:18 am

        Juila,
        I definitely celebrate this with you. I have actually made straight A’s sice returning to school which has been a great achievement since I am in nursing school. I think one of the biggest issues is the lack of knowledge some people have in the medical community about narcolepsy. Most people know it is a sleep disorder but do not understand the complexity of the disease. I tell my story when I get the chance and I have many of my fellow students about the disease. I am excited the scolarship is offered! I support you and all of the volunteers. Once I have completed my education I will have the time to volenteer and hope I can help. You are such a great role model and I really look up to you.

    • Ly'Nae on June 30, 2014 at 4:02 pm

      When I saw scholarship for people with Narcolepsy I got excited. Then was disappointed to see that it was just for high school students. I am 44 and have gone back to school was diagnosed in my mid 30’s and about 4 years ago diagnosed with sleep apnea as well..

  4. Lauren Hudak on December 29, 2013 at 7:39 pm

    Julie,

    Thank you for working to develop a scholarship for student’s with narcolepsy. I am a freshman in college and would LOVE the opportunity to apply for extra funds to support my education. I hope to see this scholarship opportunity expand to ALL student’s enrolled in college who balance their college demands with the challenges of narcolepsy.

    Thanks,

    Lauren

    • julie on December 29, 2013 at 9:50 pm

      Hi Lauren,
      Thank you for your comment and congratulations on starting college as a person with narcolepsy! You go girl! We hope to expand the scholarship in the future. It was important for us to start with a smaller pool of applicants to ensure that we could handle each application with proper care given our current volunteer capacity. We want this to be a successful and sustainable program, so we are starting small with the hopes to grow. 🙂
      Keep up the great work in school,
      Julie

  5. Ashley on December 29, 2013 at 8:41 pm

    This is absolutely awesome! Kudos to Julie Flygare for unveiling such a great opportunity for high school students! I was diagnosed with Narcolepsy 3 years ago at the age of 25. The months before and after my diagnosis was extremely life altering. Much of my precious time was spent trying to put the broken pieces of my life and career back together. It is an absolutely wonderful thing to provide this opportunity to a high school senior who has already received a diagnosis and has proven that they can overcome challenges and adversities as well as demonstrate courage and hope being a young adult with narcolepsy. I believe the Jack and Julie Narcolepsy Scholarship is well fitted for a deserving high school senior who wishes to pursue a college education. At age 25, during the time my symptoms peaked and I received my diagnosis, I was taking online classes to further my education and pursue my dream to get a masters in physician assistant studies. I was juggling a family life, a full time career, and part time college classes not knowing I was about to get the diagnosis. As a result, my 4.0 college GPA dropped drastically after receiving a semester of poor grades. I decided that furthering my education would have to be re-evaluated after I learned how to be successful at dealing with the adversities of simply being a person with Narcolepsy.
    ~ Good Luck to All Jack and Julie Narcolepsy Scholarship Applicants~

    • julie on December 29, 2013 at 9:53 pm

      Thank you for sharing your experience, Ashley. I’m so sorry to hear you were diagnosed in your mid-twenties, while balancing school and other responsibilities. You are overcoming so much adversity and deserve to be very proud of yourself. I know what it takes, and much of the challenge is visible to outsiders, but I’m cheering for you. Big smiles sent your way, Julie

  6. Tammy on January 15, 2014 at 8:51 pm

    I’m a mom with narcolepsy (and fibromyalgia, yeah!) on disability and have a 19yr old daughter with narcolepsy. She also has been diagnosed with BPD and battles with self-harming. She is currently a freshman at Thiel College majoring in psychology to help others like herself. My question would be scholarships for students already attending college?

    • julie on January 15, 2014 at 9:43 pm

      Hi Tammy, thank you for your message and for supporting your daughter’s experience while also living with narcolepsy and fibromyalgia yourself. Right now, I am not aware of any other scholarships specifically for students with narcolepsy. I believe the Jack and Julie Scholarship is the first of it’s kind and for right now, it is limited to high school seniors only. We hope to expand but we also wanted to start out small to make sure we could do this right. Thank you for checking out my blog. -Julie

  7. RENEE on February 3, 2014 at 7:36 pm

    Thank you so much for the information! My 16 yr old son was diagnosed with Narcolepsy and Cataplexy a few months ago and he has had to overcome many obstacles along the rode. He is now being treated and won’t let anything stop him from obtaining his dreams! Programs like this are truly a blessing!

  8. brittany axie on February 5, 2014 at 4:03 am

    Sable,
    I am 22 and jus have been digonsosed with narcolepsy. I have dropped out college too because of it. Trying to get it under control so I can go back to school and work. Im glad ur back in school. Gives me better hope. 🙂
    Julie,
    I think its awesome that u started this. Right on!!! Ur amazing.

  9. D-Termined on April 23, 2014 at 11:42 pm

    Hi I am the mom of a 17 year old student that was misdiagnosed for the past three years. After having missed more than 25 days of her senior year of high school, due to severe exhaustion and weakness, we continued to press on. On one of our many doctor visits this year, I finally broke down and begged her family doctor (the fourth one in 2 years) to complete a sleep study and do not prescribe medication or diagnose my child with anxiety/depression. I am happy to say that 1 week after the sleep study was performed, we received the diagnosis of Narcolepsy. Unfortunately, my daughter had already completed her SAT’s and did not do well due to debilitating exhaustion. She has been accepted into college, yet we continue to search for scholarships to assist with her Freshman year! I pray no other student has to go through all the medical loop holes to receive a narcolepsy diagnosis. I also would like to encourage each family not to give up on your child, you are their best advocate. It’s been a ruff ride, but we made it and continue to move forth! My daughter plan to become a medical missionary nurse practitioner, so that she can help others.
    Exhausted but hopeful,
    Mom
    Lupus/RA, Primary Hypersomnia survivor and Narcolepsy educator

  10. Brody on April 30, 2014 at 10:54 pm

    Just wondering, is there a new announcement date set for the scholarship? I know tha the deadline was changed a little, just wondering if the announcement dare was set.

    • julie on April 30, 2014 at 10:55 pm

      Hello! We will be making the announcement tomorrow, May 1st. Thanks so much. 🙂

  11. Mahogany on May 7, 2014 at 11:31 am

    I am so happy that there is finally a scholarship specifically for narcoleptics. Last year, I searched high and low for one and was so disappointed that one didn’t exist. I am so happy that these two recipients are able to benefit from from advancements of narcolepsy awareness.

    • julie on May 8, 2014 at 5:28 am

      Thank you, Mahogany! We are so proud to have finally created a narcolepsy scholarship.

  12. Taylor on December 8, 2014 at 7:18 pm

    Will there be another scholarship for 2015?

  13. Mikail Tim on January 6, 2015 at 12:33 am

    This is wonderful and the very first scholarship i have seen specifically for narcolepsy. I will most definitely apply amd thanks in advance for the opportunity.

  14. Emily on January 6, 2015 at 9:05 pm

    I’m glad someone’s finally doing this. It’s such a struggle to try to work, and go to school with narcolepsy.

  15. Jay on July 25, 2015 at 10:03 pm

    I have a bizarre sleep disorder that has been diagnosed differently by three different neurologists(one a narcolepsy diagnosis). After 21 years I just finished my first AS degree at Purdue. Now I have to figure out how to continue to my PhD!

  16. Jada on September 9, 2015 at 12:41 am

    Will there be a scholarship for the senior class of 2016?

  17. Deena on March 18, 2017 at 5:02 pm

    This scholarship opportunity literally brought me to tears upon reading it. Diagnosed with narcolepsy in the 4th grade I have managed to complete undergraduate school and am trying to go on to complete my masters. More importantly I am a single mother now with a sophomore diagnosed with hyper-somnia and is facing the same challenges as I did . He has excelled beyond all conceivable expectations 3.9 GPA dually enrolled in high school and college and star athlete and all around good kid. We had to fight for him for every inch of it. thanks for what you are doing.

  18. Alexandra Carr on December 19, 2017 at 6:56 am

    Hi Julie
    I was wondering if it was open to the class of 2018 Seniors. I was Diagnosed at age 16 in my junior year and had been suffering with narcolepsy since the beginning of my freshman year in 2014. Is the scholarship still open. Thank you for spreading the word. It makes me feel like I’m not the only one who’s out there with this disability.

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