By Emily Zeitman
We’re excited to announce the winner of the Zombie Apocalypse Scholarship. The question was, “Imagine that your high school/college has been overrun with zombies. Your math professor, the cafeteria ladies and even your best friend have all joined the walking dead. Use your brain to flesh out a plan to avoid the zombies, including where you would hide and the top 5 things you would bring with you to stay alive.” Check out the winning essay, followed by scholarship tips from our winner.
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Slowly I crouch,
& carefully take aim.
Mr. Gibbons sure is a grouch,
I’ll aim for his brain.
I reload my bow,
& crawl across the floor,
behind me a grenade blows,
as I make my way to the door.
I inch towards the chemistry lab,
& as I’m rounding the corner,
suddenly I’m grabbed,
then WHAM! I end Mr. Boernear.
I slip into the room,
& stop when I sense movement,
I off Mr. Evans with a broom,
his zombie game really needs improvement.
I run to the supply closet,
Trying to read the labels,
something reeks of vomit,
then behind me I hear flipping tables.
Slowly I turn,
to see the zombies pressing in.
My stomach churns,
boy, I sure hope I win.
I grab the two nearest jars,
& pour them in a beaker.
I throw it towards the stars,
And crouch down near my sneakers.
A second passes by,
then the room is rocked by an explosion,
I’m completely knocked awry,
but the zombies look like they’ve suffered
corrosion.
Victorious, I rise,
raising my fist in elation,
but I’m staring into a pair of dead eyes,
this is an unexpected situation.
A straggler has escaped,
& I find myself unarmed.
I accept this as my fate,
& that I’ll soon be harmed.
Gripped with the urge to flee,
I grab what’s nearest my hand,
& when the zombie reaches towards me,
I stab it with a replica DNA strand.
Not a moment did I waste,
Not wanting to be a snack,
out of the school I raced,
not once looking back.
—Allie S.
Scholarship tips from our winner
How to create a winning scholarship essay
“My advice is to break the rules. Don’t be afraid to stray from what you would expect of a normal essay. Be creative, play with the format and the words you use, and if you have a gut feeling or a wacky idea, go with it! It’s important to make your essay relevant to the prompt, but also make it stand out; giving it an edge will help it make an impression!”
How to find scholarships
“All of the scholarships that I’ve applied for on Unigo I’ve found through their Unigo Scholarship Match! After exploring the website and being slightly overwhelmed by the amount of scholarships available, I decided to try the Scholarship Match, and am so glad that I did! Upon completion of a short survey, I was paired with hundreds of scholarships that pertained to me, which is what led me to the Zombie Apocalypse scholarship! It’s important that you search for scholarships that involve topics that you’re passionate about. If you have a passion for what you’re applying for, it will show through on your application, and they won’t be dreadfully boring or a waste of your time.”
Take Allie’s advice and be a scholarship winner yourself. Use our Scholarship Match to get personalized matching from millions of scholarships. If scholarship money just isn’t enough, try our LoanFinder.