scholarship essay sample

scholarship essay sample

Persuasive Scholarship Essay

1. Introduction

A very personal and powerful introduction can be taken from the book, Saving Private Ryan. The provocative question, “Have Private Ryan’s sacrifices been worth it?” is asked in an attempt to justify the bloodshed and horror of Normandy. This can be compared to an essay on a scholarship. You may ask, “Is the money spent on a single student worthwhile in the eyes of the community?” The answer, of course, may not be as easily found as in the film, but it makes a direct and thought-provoking point.

The format of an essay is pretty basic; it consists of 3 parts which are: Introduction, Body, and Conclusion. If you do not grab the attention of the judge at the beginning, he or she may not read the rest of your essay. An introduction can begin with a question, an anecdote, a quote, a definition, or a fact. It is very important to engage the reader’s interest so that they will continue reading.

Scholarship decisions are made very quickly; you need to immediately make yourself stand out. The judges can read all the “facts” about you on the application; the essay is where they can discover your heart and soul. The essay is an introduction to who you are, what you value, how you see the world, what you hope to accomplish, and why you need the scholarship. This is where you can show them who you are and where you are going. This is the place to let the judges know that you are more than a GPA, that you are a strong and passionate student.

2. Academic Achievements

As many other educational tests, the SAT is a time of great bewildering and most everything made trying and debilitating. This inhibits many, but in truth there are all kinds of methods to prepare for the SAT, and not all come with such difficulty. Coming away from the SAT, a priceless lesson learned for me is the virtue of perseverance, because when it comes down to it, how much one studies for the SAT is directly proportional to their gained score. My method of SAT studying was nothing less than persistent, as I dedicated an hour every day for three months doing SAT problems. My moderate though duration-heavy approach is a contrast to that of my friend, to whom I can only imagine much more hatred towards the SAT. He studied with a ten-hour SAT boot camp spread across two days; I can never forget the despair in his gesture. He had lost himself into seeking the best possible method of studying for the SAT, and it has become a regrettable experience for him. In his own way, another friend had studied hard; he was a Walpole High senior and college English professor that informally tutored me for the SAT, it was most helpful. Nothing can compare though with my mother, being a former Korean SAT valedictorian and subjecting me to years and years of unimaginable kindergarten-esque Korean SAT study. All in all, a modest amount of time has been invested by one way or another for the sake of improved SAT scores. Come senior year, the honor of a finished marathon for the SAT is one of much merit and celebration in the form of self-triumph and the happiness parents. The SAT is undoubtedly a hard obstacle to conquer and many will declare they have faced defeat, but it really is a matter of how much one really needs the score, compared to a price at jumping through life’s next hoop.

3. Extracurricular Activities

I have been exposed to many activities, clubs, and organizations. My only concern was to make this world a better place; thus, I participated in a lot of clubs and organizations that aimed to do just that. I have participated in the community service projects of the National Honor Society and the Key Club for all four years of high school. I am a member of the high school’s student council organization and this year as an elected official. I have also participated in many activities such as the blood drive at my school, and I was actively involved in the Hurricane Floyd victims’ “adoption”. I was in the scholastic competition club, and this year I was selected to represent my school at the Academic Bowl for the Credit for Life program. Over the summer, I went to Japan for a 3-week exchange trip, and this was a significant experience because it gave me a chance to see the world from a different perspective. At the start of the trip, my Japanese skills were virtually useless, but by the end of the trip, I had made significant progress. The Japan trip was significant in that I’ve expanded and broadened my knowledge of the world and have seen and met many interesting people. Finally, during the span of 4 years, I have played on the varsity tennis team. These activities have all been significant in that they have given me an opportunity to further develop my leadership and other skills that may be useful in my future. Later in my essay, I will discuss some of the skills that I have acquired and how they will apply to my future.

4. Future Goals and Aspirations

Sara plans to further the development of the compound she isolated at a pharmaceutical company. Currently, she conjugated the compound to a sugar moiety to increase its water solubility, a necessary modest modification that many drugs currently on the market use. By assessing the safety and toxicity of this modified drug, she hopes to move onto clinical tests with the guidance of a mentor. She aspires to be a college professor, teaching and performing research in an environment where there is a constant connection between the two. With her in-depth understanding of organic chemistry and its real-world applications because of a PhD, she knows that she will be able to provide her students with a thorough education. With an undying love of the benchwork, she still wants to have an active role in research and hopes that through professorship, she will be able to attain funding for her own research lab. She wishes to work closely with undergraduate students, introducing them to scientific research and all of its intricacies, no matter how tedious. Because of her extensive experience with mentoring, she knows that she will be an influential teacher and mentor at the college level. This career would be the perfect integration of her skills and interests, yet she knows that at this point in time, it is only an aspiration. She is very enthusiastic about the doors that a PhD will open for her in the future.

5. Conclusion

Overall, the objective is to see the exposure to video violence having a negative factor in the development of personality traits in a child. Exploring the questions, do you feel that the exposure to aggressive video content has led to the desensitization of today’s youth? Do these children mimic the behaviors they see? Based on national trends in youth behavior, there is a strong correlation to the increased exposure to violent video games and the desensitization of troubled youth. Keep in mind that children begin to mimic the strategic concepts and the visualizations of themselves in an effective or proficient manner. Although this behavior appears to be innocent, we now couple the identification, with proof that when juveniles play video games with defined ‘enemies’ and have the disposition to the mentioned game they will increase hostile thoughts and expectations for a given situation. This sequence of events has a high probability of culminating into a hostile act, and the evidence is clear when looking at the increasing rates of school violence around the United States. The impact of video game violence is still relatively undetermined, and there is much concern on whether the current generation of children can differentiate between games with fictional violence and the context of ‘reality’. Our findings show that the emotional factors and idea of desensitization in youth are strong influences from continuous exposure to video violence. Characters in these games become positive or negative role models, and when a child identifies themselves with a certain character it has a strong influence on their personality development. In many cases, the child will change their behavior to act more congruently with the character. It is proven that changing behaviors based on a perceived model has the great potential to alter personality traits. Although there are negative conclusions that have been drawn, we must understand the importance of the impact on aggressive and violent behavior of children in the context of our research. The studies on video violence will serve a strong baseline to compare changes in behavior in future studies, and essentially provide clear evidence to whether today’s youth are victims of an undesirable phenomenon in the change of sociocultural norms.