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I can hear my readers smirking as they read this. Fishing scholarship? Are you kidding me? Believe it or not, it’s no joke. There are some hefty scholarships out there waiting to be reeled in. Let’s look at bass fishing, for example:
Take Bethel College in McKenzie, Tennessee, for instance. Their bass team was featured in The New York Times just two weeks ago. Bethel made Lauren Stamps the first woman bass angler ever to be awarded a college scholarship for bass fishing. Tyler Wadzinski, a senior at Franklin (Tenn.) High School, was awarded a $4,000 ride to fish for the Bethel Wildcats. Wondering about Bethel College’s academic reputation? It was founded in 1842; has 2,700 students; offers 28 undergraduate programs and five Masters. Their athletic program includes 16 men’s and 13 women’s sports (NAIA). In addition to their home campus in McKenzie, they have five satellite campuses in Tennessee.
Garry Mason, the coach of Bethel University’s fishing team, with the freshman Lauren Stamps on a lake in Tennessee.
Not convinced? Look at just some of the top colleges with bass clubs — Duke, Cornell, Northwestern and Texas A&M. If you’re looking for a complete list, go online to www.collegebass.com. Odds are you might be surprised by some of the colleges listed that have bass fishing teams and scholarships.
Remember, sports are not just “stick and ball” anymore. If student-athletes can win scholarships for skiing, shooting and tumbling, why not bass fishing? It may not be for everyone, but if your child is interested, put them on a scholarship track now by suggesting that they investigate this new financial boon.
I’m always on the lookout for scholarship opportunities for college-bound teens. And when I find one that doesn’t require an essay, I’m ecstatic. Why? Because there is always that student out there that is loaded with creativity, but not the best wordsmith.
Frame My Future Scholarship, sponsored by Church Hill Classics, asks applicants to “upload an original creation that shares with us what you want to achieve in your personal and professional life after college. The main guideline is that your creation must be submitted within one image, in a JPEG format.” This allows for creativity to abound because images can be photographs, collages, a scrapbook page, a poem–just as long as it’s a single JPEG image that can be uploaded.
This year’s scholarship contest is coming to a close, but there’s a link on their site to VOTE for one of the top 24 finalists (give these creative college-bound teens some votes) AND a link to sign up to receive information on next year’s scholarship. What could be simpler?
As always, I recommend you keep a scholarship file (either online or in a folder) with all your scholarship finds so that when the time arises to apply, you won’t forget about a single one!
Kudos to Church Hill Classics for coming up with this unique scholarship!
This isn’t your typical prom dress or your typical fashion related competition. Get creative and you could win thousands of dollars in scholarships in two contests: Own Your Look Prom Contest 2010 AND Stuck at Prom.
Stuck at Prom participants are required to submit a photo of themselves attending their prom decked out in duct tape anytime from March 1 to June 7, 2010. Check out the website for complete rules, details and photos of past winners.
JoAnn’s, Own Your Look Prom Contest began on January 15 and ends June 15, 2010. This contest requires an original prom dress (using a pattern is okay!) and accessory made with fabrics and other items from JoAnn’s. The student/prom goer (aged 14-19) entering the contest must be the one making the entry. Photos of the contestant in the dress are required.
Click the links below for full contest rules and details:
Own Your Look Prom Contest 2010
Stuck at Prom
Ford Motor Company has launched a new scholarship contest on Monday, March 15. Modeled after Ford’s own standard of giving back to the communities in which it works, the two-part scholarship contest is open to high school seniors and current college students enrolled in an accredited U.S. college or university by September 30, 2010.
The contest asks a simple question: what is your heart behind? Ford Motor Company wants to hear what students are doing to make a positive impact in their communities. The first place winner will receive a $3000 scholarship, second place a $2000 scholarship and third place a $1000 scholarship.
Essays will be accepted from March 15 to April 9, 2010 online at www.fordscholars.org. From there, ten semi-finalists will be selected to win an ULTRA HD FLIP Cam for their outstanding efforts. The semi-finalists will then use their new FLIP Cam to produce a 3-minute video illustrating their essay. The videos will be posted to www.fordscholars.org for public voting May 10-14, 2010. The public votes combined with the judging panel will determine the scholarship winners.
Winners will be announced on May 17, 2010.
Zinch.com is holding a Thanksgiving Scholarship to award THREE $1000 Scholarships. The winners will be chosen by the following criteria:
- 1 will be a high school genius - 1 will be a college/grad school genius - And the 3rd winner will be whomever has the most “likes” to their post when the judging occurs.
According to the rules:
You can post either an image or video that displays how creative you are. This could be a film you made, a piece of your artwork, some of your photography, etc., or it could be a photograph of something that you made, did, or otherwise. Or you can just make a video telling us why you are a creative genius.
You can pretty much do whatever you want as long as it is in video or picture format and reflects your creative genius.
The deadline is Monday, November 30th.
You can get all the details by clicking below: Thanksgiving Creative Geniuses Scholarship sponsored by Zinch.com
Although these scholarships have been deemed “weird and wacky”, any scholarship that garners you FREE money for college is anything but that. Did you know that you can type in “wacky scholarships” in Google and come up with some of these scholarship gems? Here are just a few of them.
Is your teen a leftie?
Juniata College located in Huntingdon, Pennsylvania offers two 1,000 scholarhips to left handed students each year. One of the qualifications is – yes – left handedness.
Does your teen know how to knit?
The National Make It Yourself with Wool (NMIYWW) organization awards 2 scholarships for knitting wool garments. Make a killer wool garment and submit it to this organization and they will judge it based garment style and design, contestant’s presentation, and creativity. Winners receive either a $2,000 or a $1,000 scholarship.
Is your teen a Trekkie?
The Kor Memorial Scholarship is awarded by the Klingon Language Institute to recognize and encourage scholarship in the field of language study. You don’t have to be fluent in Klingon, but creativity is preferred.
And…
Starfleet Academy Scholarship. If you are a member of the “Starfleet Academy,” an organization modeled after the fictitious Star Trek academy you may qualify for awards such as the Gene Roddenberry Memorial Scholarship for Aspiring Writers or the DeForest Kelley/Dr. Leonard McCoy Medical Scholarship.
Is your teen enjoying “the air up there”?
The Kae Sumner Einfeldt Scholarship, sponsored by Tall Clubs International offers tall students a $1000.00 scholarship. To qualify, girls must be at least 5-foot-10, and guys must measure at least 6-foot-2.
Is your teen fascinated with ghosts?
The New York-based Parapsychology Foundation offers young ghost hunters and those with interest in the paranormal several scholarships.
Does your teen have expertise in duck calling?
The Chick and Sophie Major Memorial Duck Calling Contest awards a $1,500 scholarship to the winner of their duck calling contest. First runner-up gets $500, second runner-up gets $300, and third runner-up gets $200.
If these have peeked your interest, here’s a few other links offering many other possibilities. With the scholarship names, you can go to a scholarship search site like FastWeb and find out all the details.
http://scholarship.lifetips.com/cat/61637/wacky-scholarships/index.html
http://www.wacky-scholarships.com/
Happy Halloween!
FIRE’s Freedom in Academia Essay Contest
2009 Awards One first place winner will be awarded a $5,000 college scholarship. Two second place winners will each receive a $2,500 college scholarship. Five runners-up will each receive a $1000 college scholarship.
Deadlines The final day to submit an entry is November 6, 2009. The winners will be announced on December 11, 2009.
FIRE’s Mission FIRE’s mission is to defend and sustain individual rights at America’s colleges and universities. These rights include freedom of speech, legal equality, due process, religious liberty, and sanctity of conscience?the essential qualities of individual liberty and dignity. FIRE’s core mission is to protect the unprotected and to educate the public and communities of concerned Americans about the threats to these rights on our campuses and about the means to preserve them.
Click here for all the scholarship details!
Is your college-bound teen a budding videographer or filmaker? The Campaign for Disability Employment is sponsoring a video contest for a $1500 Scholarship. The contest asks applicants to make a video on best practices within the workplace that allow every employee the opportunity to contribute, specifically fellow co-workers with a disability.
This is a perfect opportunity for your creative teen to use that creativity and win a scholarship. Since there’s no age limit, anyone can create a video and upload it for submission.
The deadline is July 15, 2009, so don’t procrastinate and encourage your teen to get their creative juices flowing!
Click here for rules and entry information.
Question: Is it worth my time to apply for scholarships?
It is if you want FREE money. Because that’s what scholarships are: FREE money. The key is to apply for those scholarships that “fit” you. Each scholarship is looking for students with specific qualities. If you meet those, you’ll have a much better chance of winning the scholarship.
Question: I’m not the best student. Is there a scholarship out there for me?
Absolutely. Many scholarships aren’t based on grades, but on specific criteria. Many are essay contests. Many are based on heritage or affiliation. Many are based on specific talents or abilities. So even though you’re not a “straight A” student, there are scholarships out there that would be a perfect fit for you.
Question: Do I have to have a long list of extracurricular activities to win a scholarship?
The great thing about scholarships is that you can distinguish yourself by being focused on a particular activity. It’s not how many you have, but what you have spent your time on during your teen years. If you communicate your strengths (such as working all throughout high school), you won’t need a long list of activities.
Question: Are all scholarships the same?
Absolutely not. Scholarships are as varied as people. There are scholarships for academics, writing, inventing, music, lineage, creativity, geographic residence, and the list goes on and on. As I said previously, finding the ones that “fit” is the key to success.
Question: What is the easiest way to find out about scholarships?
Go online to scholarship sites (you can find some on my TOOLS page) and register. Ask your counselor. Visit your local library reference desk.
Sign up for me FREE Ebook for many other suggestions!
No time to waste! Here’s a scholarship opportunity for 17-18 year olds. $500 will pay for any number of college expenses.
What: This contest asks you to answer one simple question in 250-350 words: “What’s the best way a student can manage their money in current economic times?” Judged by FastWeb’s own Financial Aid Guru, Mark Kantrowitz.
How Much: Two winners, $500 each.
Dates: Contest begins May 25, 2009 and ends June 22—no entries will be accepted after Monday June 22, 2009 at 11:59 p.m. central time.
Winners Announced: June 29 on FastWeb. Winning essays will be featured on the site!
Who’s eligible: If you’re 17 or 18 years old, have a 2.0 GPA and up, and are enrolled full time in a high school or an accredited college/university, you’re eligible. In fact, just to make it fair, we’ll select one winner from the 2.0-2.99 GPA range and the other from the 3.0 – 4.0 range. Regardless of your GPA, there’s no reason NOT to enter!
Who’s footing the bill: This contest is sponsored by FastWeb and Bank of America. How to Enter: Email your essay on the topic: “What’s the best way a student can manage their money in current economic times?” to EssayContest@FastWeb.com.
