By Unigo
We’re excited to announce the winner of the Unigo Shout It Out Scholarship. The question was, “If you could say one thing to the entire world at once, what would it be and why?” Check out the winning essay, followed by scholarship tips from our winner.
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Winning scholarship essay
Go.
No one, two, three. No ready, set. Just go. Just do. Ask for that raise. Apply to your dream school, even if you believe you won’t get in. Go explore the world. Everyone is either too scared of the negative possibilities or says that they don’t have the time. Thousands of comments on Facebook on videos of acts of kindness read, “Wow! We need more of this in the world!” No matter how many heart-eye or smiley emojis you put next to it, there is no “we” without you.
You must be the change you want to see in the world, not sitting on your front porch, casually talking about how messed up the world is. Do something about it. If you see something wrong, fix it. Even if you do not succeed, others will see the effort you are putting forth and may be inspired to do the same. Change starts from a spark that will set off a chain reaction. This reaction will be filled with love and compassion, but in order to get it started, people must take action. From talking to your government representative about changes you want to see, to going to a third-world country to build wells, every action taken is an action that counts for something. Go out into the world and change it, little by little. Simply go.
Scholarship tips from our winner
How to find scholarships
I looked everywhere when looking for scholarships. I started by looking for scholarships in my state, then I came across several websites similar to Unigo, where you enter all of your information, test scores, extracurriculars, and interests. This was how I found most of the scholarships I applied for. I applied for one every week of the summer between my junior and senior year, and that was successful because once school starts, your only focus will be college applications. This way, you are ahead of the game.
How to write a winning scholarship essay
In order to write a good essay, you are going to have to write some bad ones first. I am not a great academic writer, but I enjoy telling stories. I usually chose a story that I thought fit the prompt and went with that. The same applies for college application essays. Always have a friend or teacher read it before submitting it. This is great way to catch grammar or spelling mistakes, and to see what a scholarship committee or application review board reaction may be.