When it comes to landing scholarships, you don't need to have a 4.0 in all AP classes or be the best athlete in your state. What you really need is the right attitude, a willingness to do serious searching, and a good deal of patience and persistence. These are just some of the traits we discovered in these hard-working scholarship winners.

Mike Magpayo, Sophomore
Pacific Union College
Angwin, California
Major: Nursing

When I first started the application process, I was really discouraged. There were all of these scholarships that I wasn't eligible for because my mom made too much money. But then I dug a little deeper and found out that there was also a ton of scholarships that didn't care one bit about a parent's income. Instead, they focused on things like religion, ethnicity, grades, sports and extracurricular activities. For instance, the fact that I was a minority student who played the piano at church won me a leadership scholarship worth $1,500! I also received another $1,500 to play in the school's basketball and volleyball programs and maintain a C average or above.

In addition, I found out that sometimes students can get money because of their chosen major. I earned a $2,000 scholarship from a foundation that supports students who are pursuing a medical career. I received another $5,000 from a local medical center. Pretty nice.

Of course the scholarships didn't just roll in on their own. I continuously applied for new ones. For a while there, I gritted my teeth each time I opened the mail because it seemed like I was getting nothing but rejection letters. But then the tables started to turn and I began to get some "good news" letters in the mail—ones with dollar signs!

Over time, my perspective on the application process changed. In the beginning, I felt like filling out applications was a big waste of time. But then it dawned on me: Hey, there's a chance I might get $1,000 out of doing just two hours of work. That's like earning $500 an hour! Not bad.

Kelsea Caswell, Sophomore
Westmont College
Santa Barbara, California
Major: Communications

Since my mom and dad attended rather inexpensive community colleges and didn't have a need for scholarships, they were very unfamiliar with the whole scholarship search. My friend's mom, though, knew a lot about scholarships and led me through the process. Specifically, she helped me apply for the Daniels Fund Scholarship, which covers the remaining balance of each winner's tuition after all other financial aid is used up. With this scholarship, I could afford to attend Westmont, my top-choice school.

I did two things that I think helped me win this scholarship. First, I trusted God to guide me through the entire process. Second, I worked on demonstrating a good deal of self-confidence during the interviews I had to do. When I talked about myself, I wasn't shy about sharing my skills, talents, abilities and accomplishments. Although I felt a little weird bragging about myself, I knew that was the type of information committees needed to hear in order to make their selections.

Along with winning the Daniels Fund, I received an additional $7,000 from Westmont College. God has blessed me tremendously and for that I am so grateful.

Aaron Walker, 2008 graduate
Bob Jones University
Greenville, South Carolina
Major: History

The summer prior to starting college, I received the LIFE Scholarship, which is $5,000 given to graduates of a South Carolina high school who maintain a B average and score at least either a 24 on the ACT or an 1100 on the SAT. It was great to be awarded this scholarship. But because BJU was not accredited at the time, I couldn't receive federal scholarships from my state.

Thankfully, however, halfway through my college career, BJU became an accredited school. Once that happened, the floodgates were open for tons of scholarship opportunities. My school's financial aid director pointed me toward some of the smaller scholarships available at the school. And my parents directed me to the mother lode of free money—the FAFSA (Free Application for Federal Student Aid). Ultimately, I received over $4,000 from the federal Pell Grant and an additional $3,200 from a South Carolina scholarship available to accredited schools.

My advice to anyone looking for scholarships is to first check your school's accreditation status. If you're eligible to receive one, the Pell Grant not only allows you to get money from the federal government, but it also opens you up to receive money from the state. Also, check out websites that provide listings of available scholarships through private organizations. I applied for a few and although I didn't receive any, my sister did and so did some of my friends. Some websites make it easier by allowing you to fill out one profile that sorts through all available scholarships. One awesome website is fastweb.com, which provides thousands of available scholarships, many of which are based on ethnicity, gender and major.

Olivia Lewton, Senior
Indiana Wesleyan University
Marion, Indiana
Major: Elementary/Special Education

My gifts for planning and organization came in handy during my scholarship application process. I compiled everything I had been involved in throughout high school and put it into a spreadsheet, which I'd copy from when I needed it for an application. I made separate columns for sports, jobs, clubs, awards, volunteer work and extracurricular activities. I also included the amont of time I was involved in each activity. I made sure to include even the littlest things since I never knew when something small—like volunteering at vacation Bible school—would help me stand out from other applicants. I also made sure I had a copy of my picture to attach to each application that required it, and I made a list of people to contact for letters of recommendation.

I also tried my best to devote 15 minutes a night to the scholarship search. I made sure to look for any scholarships that I could get my hands on—whether they were for a high GPA or not. My regular searching paid off big-time. I was awarded several scholarships worth thousands of dollars simply because I could prove I was a well-rounded individual. A lot of my money came from a non-profit organization called the Community Foundation, which over time builds substantial endowment funds for a community through contributions. In order to keep getting any of the Community Foundation scholarships, I have to reapply each year. It doesn't take as much time to fill out the applications now because all I have to do is put down what I had previously and then just add what new stuff I've done in the past year. And each year I end up getting some very substantial scholarships.

I also found that searching the internet is worthwhile because there are a lot of obscure online scholarships out there that no one applies for because they don't know they exist. These online ones are often smaller amounts, but every one of them adds up.

I really believe I was successful because I stayed on top of the process. Too many people wait to fill out an application until the night before it's due. Often they aren't able to finish it because there are so many pieces they hadn't yet gathered, like transcripts, pictures, signatures and letters of recommendation. Being organized and prepared not only got me more scholarships, but also made the application process much less stressful. n