Every year, high school seniors apply for as many scholarships as they can. Once again, the seniors this year applied for many scholarships, and, this year, two seniors have been finalists for prestigious scholarships: Zeke Wilcox and Brennan King. Wilcox is a senior at SHS who runs cross country and track and is also an Eagle Scout. King is another senior who runs cross country and track and will be graduating along with Wilcox in May of 2025.
They were both able to give insight on how they felt about scholarships. Wilcox said that the scholarships “take time, and need to be meticulously done, and thought out.” King agreed, describing the scholarship applying experience as “brutal, there is a lot to do for each of them.”
One problem King had with the process was the essays. He said they feel “repetitive” and the scholarships want to “make sure that they’re giving the scholarship to the right person.”
Wilcox said being involved in both school and the community certainly helps with scholarships and suggested prospective scholars to do “as many extracurricular activities that you could.” This reflects school efforts, as they’ve both participated in extracurricular activities that are beneficial for scholarship essays, like cross country, track, National Honor Society, and more.
King said that, in an ideal world, he would improve scholarship dissemination by arranging a meeting between each applicant and the scholarship committee because, “meeting the students is a significantly better way than meeting whoever they’re hiding behind an essay.” He expressed that with the amount of competition from students across the country, the essays could end up similar, and that the donors might have a hard time deciding who would be the best pick for their scholarship.
King also described how the scholarships “seem to follow a common trend of questions that get tiresome to keep answering,” which he thought could be “hard to discern who is actually deserving of it.”
King and Wilcox’s hard efforts through the process paid off, though. They are both finalists for the Daniels Fund Scholarship and the Boettcher’s Scholarship. King was also a finalist for several Montana State scholarships, and Wilcox is a finalist for an ROTC scholarship.
The Daniels Fund Scholarship applies to several western states including Colorado, New Mexico, Utah and Wyoming. The scholarship focuses on “developing contributing citizens, enhancing quality of life, driving upward mobility, and promoting the free market.” It was founded by Bill Daniels in 2000, and has helped give over $1.2 billion dollars in grants and scholarships. This scholarship required a general application, essay writing, and, eventually, an interview. If chosen to get this scholarship, Wilcox and King would both receive up to $25,000 per year for their college education.
Another scholarship is the Boettcher’s Scholarship. Since its foundation in 1952, The Boettcher’s Scholarship has raised $110 million dollars in undergraduate scholarships. Specifically, it focuses on Universities and colleges in Colorado. The scholarship aims to keep potential scholars in Colorado in order to positively impact the state. They hope to build a brighter future for Coloradans. Boettcher scholars are known for their commitment to community service. This scholarship is worth $20,000 per year for specific Colorado colleges and universities.
Although they were faced with many challenges throughout the application process, it is certain that Wilcox and King as well as all the seniors, are extremely grateful for the opportunities. Community support in creating many scholarships has ensured the students of Salida a brighter future. Now they all wait patiently while looking forward to receiving decisions from these scholarships and moving forward with their chosen educational journey.