Contestant #6

Blog Shout!Welcome Brittany C. from Arkansas to the Young Scholars' Contest! Brittany adds Arkansas to the list of scholarship hunters which is growing slowly day by day! Now we're down to 119 contestants to make it worth these readers' while! If you know anyone who may be interested in participating in reading and treasure hunting for a scholarship, pass the word. It would be great to have all of the states participating in the hunt!

Bad News vs Good News!Bad news: the contest is in danger of not happening. Good news: There's still time to register before the first challenge in September.

It would be so nice to give three students a full scholarship in May '15!

The world is so full of bad news, and the media seems to feed the world that bad news each day.  So little good news is seen or heard. Even Facebook posts are filled with bad news. To me, it's depressing.

A great piece of good news is in the works-- seeing this contest relieve the financial burden that college can have on the rest of a young person's life, and helping three young people would make that news even better!

If you are interested in helping shed some good news in May '15, here are some ways you can do so:
Tell everyone you know about the contest! Share it on all of your social media. If you see a post from me about #YoungScholarsContest, mention it or share it in some way. I'm giving away two of my children's books for mentioning #YoungScholarsContest on Twitter on 8/30 and for following my Facebook author page. Help me spread the word by sharing the contest on your social media!Purchase the two books, The Gifted Ones The Fairytale and The Gifted Ones The Dream for yourself, a contestant, or a U.S. school library. Those purchases help increase the scholarship amount, and if you donate them, they count as a charitable donation on your taxes! Why? Some readers may be asking why they should do anything t help. That's okay. I would ask, too. Let me tell you why I am doing this and maybe that will help you answer the question why you should help:
Discouragement for AccomplishmentStudents who work hard to achieve high performance in high school, especially in economically disadvantaged areas, should be rewarded with a chance at college, but some don't get that. They work hard and think they'll get a scholarship to the school of their choice, but can't afford the entrance fees, or don't get enough financial aid to cover their tuition. Their hopes of a future so very different from their past and present are destroyed! What happens to them? That young man who can't get out of a drug riddled neighborhood? That young woman who's lived with neglect and abuse but strives to break free of the circle? They become discouraged and fall into the patter they know. Now that's sad news.The Student Loan TrapIt's a vicious cycle! Parents take out student loans to get through college, then wind up at jobs with mediocre pay--like teaching, which doesn't pay well where I am. What happens? The money they used to pay off their student loans took money away from their children's college education, which brought them around full circle to taking out student loans for their children. So, as soon as parents pay off their loans, they start all over. It's a trap that some parents/ students can't get out of today. Generosity I don't have much, but I like to share what I get. Little things like sending an anonymous $20 bill to someone I don't know, leaving a larger tip than the ticket, passing a $5 bill to the guy on the corner who's been left homeless, buying somebody gas so they get home for a special event: those are little things, but who knows what those little things will do for that person? It's not about making me feel better. It's not about making me look better than I am. It's not about getting more for me. It's about the potential for changing lives. It's about a little good news in a bad news world. It's about watching out for each other and passing along some kindness, instead of indifference.So, there you have my three reasons for creating and pushing this contest. No matter what your mind is telling you or what reasons you are inventing for not helping out, I will keep trying, for my reasons.