The 2024 Desire To Inspire Scholarship is a one-time financial award of $3000 (1st place – $1500, 2nd place – $1000, 3rd place – $500) that is dedicated to recognizing young individuals from historically underrepresented minority groups who are interested in a career in healthcare and are making a determined effort to inspire others in some way, shape or form. The award can be used for educational purposes and/or for the purpose of pushing their missions of inspiration forward.
After the submission deadline has passed (Sunday, June 9th, 2024), each eligible application will be thoroughly reviewed by several judges, all of whom will use the following criteria to judge the applications:
- Content
- Spelling/Grammar
- Coherence/Organization
- Voice
- Quality of CV/Resume
- Effort
Each applicant will receive a score from each judge, and these scores will then be averaged into one single score for the applicant. Once each application has been reviewed and every score has been tallied, the five applicants with the highest scores will advance to the voting round. These finalists will be notified of their selection and will take part in an online voting competition to help determine the winner of the scholarship. This competition also serves two other purposes:
- It provides these incredible students a way to share with the world what they are doing to inspire others around them.
- It gives the public the chance to actively participate in a scholarship process that was funded by them.
The competition will take place on a separate page on this blog, that of which will host the pictures of the five finalists, links to their scholarship question answers, and a poll that will allow voters to make their selections. The outcome of the voting competition will constitute 10% of the overall score, with the judges' scores constituting 90% of the overall score.
After the competition ends, the final scores will be tallied and the winners of the 2024 Desire To Inspire Scholarship will be officially announced. The three winners will receive their scholarship checks via mail and each of the five finalists will receive a certificate. In the unlikely event of a tie, the scholarship will be split between the individuals engaged in it.
Scholarship Timeline:
- Scholarship Application Submission Deadline: Sunday, June 9th, 2024 at 11:59 PM EST
- Finalist Notification: Sunday, August 4th, 2024
- Start of Voting Competition: Friday, August 9th, 2024
- End of Voting Competition: Friday, August 16th, 2024 at 11:59 PM EST
- Announcement of The 2024 Desire To Inspire Scholarship Winners: Sunday, August 18th, 2024
Scholarship Criteria:
- Will be a U.S. High School Junior or Senior in the Fall 2024-Spring 2025 academic school year (Students graduating from high school in Spring/Summer 2024 are not eligible)
- Member of one or more of the following historically underrepresented minority racial or ethnic groups: (Black/African-American, Native American, Latinx-American)
- Interested in Pursuing a Career in Healthcare
- Minimum Cumulative GPA of 2.5
The questions and instructions found in the scholarship application can also be found below for your convenience:
- Using up to 500 words for each question, answer the following two questions:
- What does inspiration mean to you? How would you use your platform in your future career in healthcare to inspire and uplift others?
- What intentional actions are you currently taking to inspire people around you?
- Using up to 250 words, answer the following question:
- If granted the scholarship, describe how you would utilize the award to propel yourself towards your goals and continue serving as a source of inspiration to others.
- Submit the completed application by Sunday, June 9th, 2024