Zinchers, please note that current contest that is taking place is the Ammunition for Tuition II Scholarship award and the winner will be announced Friday November 6th as noted in the contest award guidelines here:  http://www.morethanatestscore.com/2009/10/21/oprah-essay-scholarship/ We were truly inspired from so many of the essays given a few weeks ago during the Ammunition for Tuition I Scholarship award that we wanted our students voices to be heard by others.

We thought what better way to do this than to tell an individual that constantly inspires in not only education but various walks of life. Zinch will select the finalists and will submit their essays to the Oprah Winfrey Show. As stated,  we are not affiliated or endorsed in any way by Oprah or the Oprah Winfrey Show.   Deadline is tonight for your essay to count, please make sure you have submitted your essay to our fan page and where else you see fit that your voice should be heard.  Continue to inspire!

**Oprah Winfrey and “The Oprah Winfrey Show” do not endorse nor are they affiliated with the Zinch.com “Tell Oprah” Essay contest.**

Thanks so much for the contributions to the “Tell Oprah* Essay contest”! We have seen so many good essays, and this promises to be as good or better than the last one!

As some have noticed we have had some trouble with the posts on Oprah’s wall, so to be safe, we ask that you post your entry on Zinch’s Wall as well as on Oprah’s wall.

We have archived posts from Oprah’s fan page, but we request that if you posted today that you also go back and post on Zinch’s fan page as well.

Questions and Answers about the Contest:

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**Oprah Winfrey and “The Oprah Winfrey Show” do not endorse nor are they affiliated with the Zinch.com “Tell Oprah” Essay contest.**

The Zinch faithfuls will remember that there is not just one Ammunition for Tuition but two.  We just wrapped up awarding the Ammunition for Tuition 1 (A4T1) with Kelly Goode.  All A4T1 semi-finalists were asked to tell Zinch why they were more than a test score in 140-characters or less.  The response was amazing.

The entries were thoughtful, punchy, moving, witty, and humorous. We had just over 7,000 students participate. Once again I was overwhelmed with the idea that students have far more to offer to colleges and life than just a test score.

As I read your many entries, I knew that it wasn’t just Zinch who needed to hear what you have to say, but the world at large.  So, we have selected the semi-finalists for the Ammunition for Tuition 2 (A4T2) scholarship and we will once again be calling upon you to submit a 140-character essay on why you are more than a test score.

But rather than telling us on Twitter or our Facebook Fan Page, we are going to have you tell Oprah Winfrey, the host of The Oprah Winfrey Show, why you are more than a test score.  We also suggest you share your post with your friends and family that are on Facebook.  Below we show you the best way to share it with them.

All students are welcome to participate and join our voices in telling Oprah** why you are more than a test score, but it is important to remember that only those chosen as semi-finalists are eligible to win the $20,000 A4T2 scholarship.  Each semi-finalist was chosen based upon their Zinch profile and are being contacted via email and through their love account on Zinch.

This essay contest will again be constrained to 140-characters.  All posts will be made to Oprah’s Fan Page from Monday, October 26th - Wednesday, October 28th. This is how to participate:

************* Read all of the steps before attempting to post your entry *************

Step 1: Log into your personal Facebook account (a Facebook account is required to participate–it is a free service).

Step 2: Fan Zinch on Facebook (this is important as it facilitates a later step required for us to track your entries). To Fan Zinch on Facebook go to facebook.com/zinch & click on the button that says “Become a Fan”:

Step 3: Fan Oprah on Facebook. This is required to be able to post to her Fan Page. To fan Oprah go to facebook.com/oprahwinfreyshow & click on the button that says “Become a Fan”:

You are now ready to post to Oprah’s Fan Page.

Step 4: Follow these directions closely for submitting your essay on Oprah’s Fan Page. First start your post with “#Oprah I am more than a test score.” DO NOT hit “Share” yet… you are not done…

After you have entered that text exactly, then follow with your 140 characters on why you are more than a test score. Here is an example, “I planted trees under whose shade I will never sit, raised money for a child I will never see. I find joy in service and hard work.” It is this portion of the essay that must be 140 characters or less. Not 140 words. Spaces are characters. “#Oprah I am more than a test score.” does not count towards your 140 characters. Neither does tagging Zinch or tagging any of your friends. DO NOT hit “Share” yet… you are not done…

Now you need to “tag” Zinch in your post.  This will allow us to be able to track the entries.  To do this type the “@” sign.  This will pull up a box that will allow you to tag people in this post. After typing the “@” sign type in “zinch” and you will see our Fan Page come up.  Click on us (”Zinch.com”) in the drop down menu.

Once you select “Zinch.com” from the drop-down menu, Zinch will now be tagged in your post.  You will know you have done it correctly because “Zinch.com” will be in blue instead of black like the rest of the text.

That is everything you need to do to have your essay be eligible for the scholarship.  Again, it is very important that you tag Zinch as this will allow us to track your entry.

Here are some additional tips to really showcase who you are to Oprah, help you get noticed, and win the $20k.  The first is to include a link to your Zinch profile.  The second is to tag any friends and family members that you would like to share your essay with. The third thing is to get people to “like” your essay.

If you choose to do this, follow these steps BEFORE submitting your essay.

Step 5 (Optional): To add the link to your profile on Zinch, you first need to get your URL.  You can do this by going to Zinch.com/yourusernamehere.  When you type that into the address bar, it will redirect to your full URL, which will be either zinch.com/z/yourusername (if you are a college student) or zinch.com/student/yourusername (if you are a high school student). Your username is the same username you use to log into Zinch.

Hit enter and it redirects to your full URL:

Copy your full URL. Then, to attach this link to your post, click on the “link” button just underneath where you type in your entry:

Once you click on that button, it will prompt you to paste in your link.  Copy and paste your profile URL into the field. Go ahead and click “Attach”.

After you click “Attach” it will look like this:

Do not click “share” yet… still more to come.

Step 6 (Optional): Tagging your friends, similar to how you tagged Zinch, in your post is the very best way to make them aware of your entry.  This is also the best way to get your friends to come and “like” your post.  Everyone you tag in your entry will be given a notification of your entry, allowing them to easily find it.  Otherwise, it is very difficult to share your entry with others (because there is no way to link to it).  So, we recommend that you tag everyone you would like to have come and “like” your post.

To do this, click back to the end of your essay, and type the “@” sign and start typing the name of your friend or family member that you would like to tag.  This will again pull up a drop down list with everyone that matches whatever it is you have typed in (If you type in @david it will pull up all of your friends with the name David).  Select the person you want to tag from the list.  You can repeat this as many times as you would like.  Tag as many people as you would like.  The more people you share the message with the better–we want to the whole world to hear.

Everyone that you tag properly will show up in BLUE text.  Again you can tag as many people as you choose.  Here is what it looks like after I have tagged Dave, my wife Mikel, my bro Dan, and Zinchers Mick and Brad.

Alright! Now, give it a double check for spelling, etc., and then hit “Share”.  You are in the game for the $20,000.

Remember:

Steps 5 & 6 are optional.  We don’t want to make this too complex–we just wanted a way for you to be able to share your post with others and a way for Oprah to learn more about you via your profile. So don’t get your underwear in a twist over it–we want this to be a fun scholarship to participate in.

Remember that your essay has to be 140-characters or less.  Not 140 words. Spaces are characters. “#Oprah I am more than a test score.” does not count towards your 140 characters. Neither does tagging Zinch or tagging any of your friends.

Remember to update your profile.  With A4T1 there were a lot of great essays submitted that when we went back to check the students’ Zinch profiles we were not that impressed.  So remember to update your profiles as well.

Also remember that you will want a profile pic uploaded to your Zinch profile.  We have to have your picture to announce you as the winner on the blog–so if you hope to win you are going to have to upload your pic sooner or later… might as well get it looking fresh now.

REMEMBER THAT ONLY POSTS submitted between Monday, October 26th - Wednesday, October 28th (EST) are eligible for the scholarship.

Finally, if you have any questions at all, ask before you post.  Don’t post then come whining later when you didn’t understand something.  Email info(at)zinch.com with any questions.

The winner will be contacted via Facebook, so be sure to check your account. The winner will be announced publicly on the Zinch blog on Friday, Nov. 6, 2009.  Good luck!

**Oprah Winfrey and “The Oprah Winfrey Show” do not endorse nor are they affiliated with the Zinch.com “Tell Oprah” Essay contest.**

It seems like essays are a trending idea in the world of scholarships. At the close of our $25,000 Short n’ Tweet scholarship essay contest, we are here to inform you of another essay contest for $20,000. This time it’s for all you future chefs out there, specifically you future Iron Chefs. Check out The Next Iron Chef Scholarship Contest.

The Art Institutes is giving you a chance to earn a $20,000 scholarship to The International Culinary Schools at The Art Institutes by writing a 2,000 character essay on how a culinary degree from The International Culinary Schools at The Art Institutes would help you reach your career goals. Not only are you entered for a chance to win a $20,000 scholarship, but you get the opportunity to get in contact with admissions representatives at The International Culinary Schools at The Art Institutes.

So, go enter yourself and show them that you care, that you’re passionate, and that you deserve $20,000. From all the essays from this past weekend, we know you all have talent. Good luck!

Meet the winners of Easy as Pi I and The Game Production Scholarships:

Joelynn Frascatore and Luis Gaitan!

We had a interview with both of them and here is what they have to say:

Joelynn, winner of the Easy as Pi Scholarship (round 1):

When/where did you hear about Zinch and the “Easy as Pi Scholarship”?

I heard about Zinch through the scholarship search engine Fastweb.  Once I was on Zinch, I researched all possible scholarships and discovered the “Easy as Pi Scholarship.”

What was your reaction when you found out that you had won the “Easy as Pi Scholarship”?

I was extremely excited because I have never won anything this fantastic. When I found out that over 30,000 people applied, I felt honored to be chosen as the recipient of the scholarship.

What was your parents reaction?

My mom was so happy for me that she enveloped me in a giant bear hug.  My choice of college will definitely be impacted by the cost, and getting a scholarship this early on in my senior year helps a lot.

What college do you want to go to and why?

My dream college is Columbia University.  The college not only has a great core foundation for classes, but also has a great physics department, which is what I hope to study in college.  Columbia University is located in New York City, a city that I absolutely love and hope to experience throughout my life.

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“This Is It,” a movie made up of footage from Michael Jackson’s rehearsals for a series of London comeback concerts hasn’t even opened but has already generated more than 1,600 sold out U.S. show times.

With this many show times already sold “This Is It” becomes direct competition with the highly anticipated Twilight movie “New Moon.”  The movie will only run two weeks much like the “Hannah Montana/Miley Cyrus: Best of Both Worlds Concert Tour” movie. It is anticipated though that “This Is It” will top the $70.6 million that the Hannah Montana movie made.

Tickets to see “This Is It” are on sale now at both Fandango and MovieTickets. To learn more about the movie check out this article by The Epoch Times.

You would be surprised what hackers can get their hands on when they get a hold of your computer and all they need is to hack your password. Having your password be “123456” doesn’t put up much a fight for the safety or your private information.

Having a solid password that is hacker proof is what you need in order to keep your computer safe. Check out the tips below to create a hacker proof password that not even the best of the best can hack.

·         Instead of using your birthrate use another important date in your life, like your very first time driving alone.

·         Combine your dream college or university and the name of the dorm you’d like to live in.

·         Choose your favorite book and combine it with the date that it hit the stands.   

·         Start with your age in years and then in months then add your favorite number

To read more creative ideas on coming up with hacker proof passwords check out this post on SparkLife.com.

Music is one of those things in life that you just can’t do without, paying for it is, which is why you will love the resources provided here to find FREE music. There are a lot of places that will offer free music, you just have to know where to look.

The first great place to find free music is to find a blog that offers free music resources on a weekly basis, like About.com where Mark Harris offers weekly sources for new free music.

Some other great places to check out to get some free tunes are:

·         Jamendo

·         SoundClick

·         BeSonic

·         PureVolume

·         ArtistServer

·         Audio Archive

Now that you have a handful of places you can get some free music maybe you can save up that money you would have spent and buy yourself something even bigger and better!