How to write a winning scholarship essay - Gen Tanabe, Kelly Tanabe 2018

Experiences & Challenges
30 winning scholarship essays

brian c. babcock, marshall & Truman scholarship winner The path to becoming a Marshall Scholar and Truman Scholar is a long one. Brian’s journey began at Bowie High School in Bowie, Maryland, when he was elected the president of the Russian Club. Since that time, he has studied at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point and worked as a Russian linguist.

Brian is one of 40 students in the nation to win the Marshall Scholarship and one of 80 students to win the Truman Scholarship. With the Marshall Scholarship, he will study at Oxford after graduating. Brian plans to use the $30,000 Truman Award to support his future graduate studies in foreign service and history and would eventually like to become the Defense Attache to Russia, working with the governments of the former Soviet republics to assist them in dismantling their nuclear, biological and chemical weapons. In this essay for the Truman Scholarship, he describes how at age 17 he embarked on a hike of the Appalachian Trail from Maine to Georgia. The solo hike lasted six months.

Lessons from the outdoors

The outdoors has always played a large role in my life, whether in Boy Scouts, on my own or with the military thus far. However, there is one outdoor experience of mine that did not involve my being in a club. I also did not get any awards for this experience, yet it has had a more profound impact on who I am than any other single event in my life, my “thru-hike”

of the Appalachian Trail from Maine to Georgia.

I started my thru-hike when I was 17 years old, three weeks after I graduated from high school. It took me just over six months to complete. In those six months, I learned more about myself than in the previous 17 years or in the five years since. There is nothing with which it can compare.

I financed the hike with money that I saved during my last semester of high school, working 40 hours per week on top of my full-time student schedule. I was determined to reach Maine and hike south to Georgia. This was the first real goal that I had ever made for myself, and I reached it alone on a cold January morning.

The lessons from the trail are ones that have affected me in everything I have done since. Because of those six months, I see the world differently, in a way that is sometimes impossible to explain to someone else, though I might try.

Brian’s contributions reflect his own opinions, not those of the U.S. military.

My life was not difficult growing up, but I found a need to put myself through the difficulties of trail life. From this time, I gained an appreciation for the little things, like clean water to drink and a dry place to sleep (both of which were sometimes lacking). I met people from all walks of life, as they crossed paths with my walk in life. From that experience I am better able to deal with those whose backgrounds do not resemble mine, a skill I have used often in the military.

Now I have turned my life 180 degrees. I no longer have hair to the middle of my back or a beard. I have traded my Birkenstock sandals for combat boots. Yet, somehow, everything I did on the trail applies to what I have done since. Whether it’s suffering in a foxhole during field training, or sleeping in a cold, dank lean-to on my hike, the lessons are not all that different.

Though my journey in life has wandered back onto the beaten path, I know that if the nation needs me to lead soldiers into the brush or assist in providing humanitarian aid, I have my previous experience to draw from. Because I have been there, I have a common bond of suffering with millions throughout the world and another bond to all of my soldiers. I am still amazed at how my former life as a free-spirited wanderer has better prepared me for life as a disciplined soldier.

daniel Heras, scantron scholarship winner Daniel dreams of becoming a teacher to inspire students to learn in the same way that he has been inspired by his teachers. In this essay, he describes one of the most meaningful experiences he has had in high school through the Environmental Science Club, which took him to real life locales to learn about science not from textbooks but from seeing, touching and experiencing science first hand. Student body president and captain of the baseball team at Woodrow Wilson High School in Los Angeles, Daniel won more than $17,000 in scholarships to attend U.C. Berkeley.

Inspired to teach

In the ninth grade, I was introduced to the Environmental Science Club and to Mr. Quezada, my science teacher and advisor. Outside of the classroom and through the club, I saw an entirely different side to education. The science club took me to far and exotic destinations, such as the Islands of Hawaii, the underwater wonderlands of the Cayman Islands, the temper-ate climates of the Florida Everglades, the deep blue waters of the Mexican Riviera and the High Sierras of Northern California.

We learned that one cannot experience these things in class behind a small cramped desk made for 10-year-olds. I was able to hold, smell and sometimes taste, foreign artifacts. I have seen the migration patterns of the Humpback whale, have become a certified scuba diver, learned to surf, rock climb, snowboard and trail the mountains of the world, all while learning about science. Our trips have also given me the life skills of communication, learning to intermingle with people of the world.

It only took a year to see that teaching was my future. Why would someone not want to get paid for helping his or her community, to enlighten the future generation and best of all, do the things that bring joy to one’s life all while on the job? I was given experiences I would not have received anywhere else, and I want to do the same for the next generation to come.

There is a world that one can hold, smell and sometimes taste. I want to show people that there really is a world out there beyond the pictures in textbooks.

mark R. eadie, coca-cola scholars Regional winner When Mark visits his 90-year-old grandmother, the two turn the volume on the television up. Though they are separated by almost 70 years in age, they share a similar problem: hearing impairment, Mark’s grandmother because of age and Mark because of a childhood injury that left him partially deaf. This injury has not stopped Mark. If anything, it has sparked a passion to be a role model for others.

While a student at Columbia High School, Mark trained for hours as the lead of the school musical, perfecting his singing without the benefit of stereo hearing. The performance garnered rave reviews. From Rensselaer, New York, Mark received over $50,000 in scholarships to attend the University of Michigan, where he is a member of the national champion solar car team and is studying aerospace and mechanical engineering. He hopes that through his research in engineering he can develop solutions for others like him.

Invisible handicap

Who would think a game of catch would change my life? At age 10 I lost hearing in one ear and had to struggle with the challenges resulting from this “invisible handicap.” Through this I have become more sensitive to people’s problems and handicaps, learned the value of my support community, refined career goals and challenged myself in new and difficult situations to help others.

My catching skills were not what my older brother thought, and his fast ball missed my glove and hit my cheek bone. After a severe concussion and cochlear surgery, I was totally deaf in the right ear. I had lost all stereophonic hearing and musicality. My voice started to become monotone. I could not tell from where sounds were coming, hear notes I was singing or distinguish voices in a noisy room. The hardest part was exhaustion from having to focus on everything going on. School became far harder. Conventional hearing aids don’t work with total deafness, so I tried a micro-phone and receiver system in class. However, it was more frustrating than helpful. After that, my teachers were dazzled with my attentiveness, not realizing I was reading their lips. All this has been very tough emotionally.