Yup, I won, and you can too!
I am a member of a fitness group that provides many resources including online challenges, recipes, and healthy eating tips. Last week, I entered a challenge and answered the following question posted by the group administrator.
How many steps did I have for this week (5 days)?
Fitbit walking trackers encourage their consumers to start with 10,000 steps/day, and the group administrator who has been participating in these challenges for a while can double this amount. So, I doubled the fitbit starting point and added an additional 5,000 steps to arrive at my guess of 105,000 steps.
A few days later, I was notified that I had won the challenge and I could pick up my prize at the local fitness class where we meet three times weekly. I was immediately happy because I love winning prizes. Later, I went back to the discussion forum to review the responses and see how close I came to the actual number. As I perused the forum, I noticed that I was the only one who participated—I won by default! Which was OK with me. There are over 200 group members and I was the only one to submit an answer for this challenge.
When I reflect on my experience of being the only participant in the challenge it made me think of the advice I provide through this blog. When submitting my guess I did not know if I was going to win, but I knew I was going to offer an educated guess based on what I knew about step tracking, the administrator, and fitness. Regardless of the outcome and the number of applicants, I was a contender because I put in some work before I entered my submission.
Through Become A Debt-Free Scholar I encourage individuals to search everywhere for financial aid resources and to submit their best application packet. In previous posts, I mentioned how I have heard students express that they do not want to write or that they pass by scholarship opportunities because they think they’re not a competitive candidate. I always say, if you meet the requirements—apply! You never know the composition of the applicant pool.
I understand that winning a fitness challenge and earning a scholarship result in two different outcomes, but the processes are similar. Both have eligibility requirements, a submission deadline, review period, and the announcement of a decision. So, the next time you may want to turn away from a scholarship that you qualify to apply for, think of my experience and how I was the only one to participate in a challenge, and won!
“If you’re not actively involved in getting what you want, you don’t really want it.”
-Peter McWilliams, Author
Feel free to contact me if you have questions. Make sure to check back for scholarship search tips and announcements.
~Dr. O
Thank you!
I once won a $750 scholarship the same way. It was by default, surprisingly I was the only entry.