Meet Hannah Rivard, yet another Scholarship Matching winner who will be awarded for using Zinch! A soon-to-be sophomore in the fall at Northwestern College in Minnesota, Hannah has big plans for her future. Though she’ll joke about it, it’s apparent that she knows exactly what she wants to do and how to achieve it. Congratulations and good luck, Hannah!

What was your reaction when you heard we were matching your scholarship?

It was hard for me to believe! I’m so used to things like Zinch either being too good to be true or never happening to me, and here it was true and it did happen to me! I felt so blessed that I found Zinch and the scholarships on it.

What are your plans for the future?

That question always makes my mom laugh. What plans?! But no, actually, I do have a direction I am going. I would like to have a horse training business (I’ve started it now, it’s called Cambria Horsemanship) that trains liberty and bridleless horses (without tack, ropes, bridles, etc.), teaches others how to train and acts with/trains those horses for use in film. That combines my two deep passions of horse training and acting, as well as my applying of my Christian faith to everything in life, as my horse training method specifically draws from Christian principles and worldview.

What do you do on rainy days?

I’m often inside writing, practicing music or watching horse training DVDs. Sometimes I play with and train my dogs inside the house, or play with my horse in the indoor arena!

What one food could you not live without?

Peanut butter! Peanut butter goes with everything. Cookies, bread, pancakes, waffles, ice cream, hot chocolate and graham crackers. It’s like the ‘magic food of amazingness.’

If you could have dinner with 3 people (dead or alive), who would it be and why?

One would definitely be C.S. Lewis – his books have completely changed my life, and I would love to interact with such a godly, yet humorous and humble man. Another would be Carolyn Resnick, an amazing horsewoman who seeks to train horses through connection and relationship, not force. I use a lot of her methods. I hope this doesn’t sound creepy, but I would be interested to meet Hitler or Stalin face to face. It would be frightening, certainly, but sometimes I think we forget that they were people, too. What were they truly like under all that anger and pain? I guess that is the question we should ask of any person.

How are you more than a test score?

I am more than a test score because I am a child of God! Whether I perform wonderfully or horribly on tests, He still loves me and I still have infinite worth.

Have you found and won a scholarship on Zinch? Let us know because you just might be eligible for a Scholarship Matching Award!

Eric Arevalo found and won a scholarship on Zinch and now he is being rewarded. Why, you ask? Because he’s smart enough to use Zinch to help find money for college. Want to know more about him? Well, he’s an excessive coffee and hot chocolate drinker, plays guitar, loves cereal more than any other food, and is about to start his senior year at USC. You can tell he has his priorities in order and is passionate about what he does.

Why do you deserve this scholarship?
I don’t deserve this scholarship any more than all the other hard-working students out there. But I’ve been extremely fortunate to find an organization around here (L.A.) that recognizes students from underrepresented backgrounds who truly aim to make a difference in this world. It’s my dedication to the community and to the poor that got my this scholarship. And I am super lucky Zinch was there to match it for me!

What was your reaction when you heard we were matching your scholarship?
I was stoked! I initially thought that there had to be some catch or something in fine print that would prevent me from getting the scholarship. I mean, since when do websites/organizations give out money so easily?  Once I was told I received the matching scholarship and the money came in, however, I was extremely grateful!

What are your plans for the future?
I am currently working at a non-profit, documentary film-making company that showcases unique and extraordinary humanitarian efforts of different people/organizations around the world! Once I graduate, I’d eventually like to start my own independent chain of documentaries that focus on social issues such as poverty and show what can be done to treat these issues. My family being from Nicaragua, I’ve always had a deep connection and sympathetic attitude towards the poor, so as long as I am doing something that reaches out to the less fortunate, I am happy!

What’s the first thing you would grab on your way out the door if your house caught fire?
My baby kitten! I just adopted him about 6 months ago and now he is my best friend. Plus, what could possibly be more brutal than seeing a cute and fluffy white kitten catch fire and burn?? :(

If you could have dinner with 3 people (dead or alive), who would it be and why?
Jesus, Tom Delonge from Blink182, and Kobe Bryant. Jesus to answer all my life’s questions, Tom because he is my all-time favorite musician, and Kobe because he’s the man.

If you had a million dollars and you had to spend it on yourself, what would you do?
First, I would pay off tuition for next year along with my school debt! Then, I’d buy a decent car since my current one is 19 years old, falling to scraps, and probably has only a few months of life left in it. I’d invest some money in getting a nice video camera for shooting all my films, and then probably just put the rest of the money in the bank!

If you could change one thing in history, what would it be and why?
I’d take back the Holocaust, which in my opinion stands as one of the most atrocious events to ever occur in history. I’ve been educated a lot on the Holocaust, and there are so many awful stories and so much pain surrounding it, even several decades after its occurrence.

How are you more than a test score?
I have never felt that my grades or my test scores define who I am. They are probably the least important thing when it comes to understanding me and what I’m all about. I am a musician, a filmmaker, an athlete, a loving brother, and a loyal friend. These are the things that define my character, not letter grades or percentages.

Feeling a little jealous? Well, start looking for scholarships on Zinch and you could be the next matching winner!

We love matching scholarships, dollar-for-dollar, here at Zinch, and we think Zinchers don’t mind being matched either. In fact, I think Ellen Wieberg is a big fan of the Scholarship Matching program at the moment. She loves traveling and curling up with a good book, and, apparently, planning for the future since she’s only a junior in high school and has already won more than one scholarship.

Why do you deserve this scholarship?

I have applied for probably over $100,000 worth of scholarships and this is finally my “big break.” Since I am only a junior, I think that this shows how dedicated I am to my future education and how much I want to succeed at whatever I choose to become.

What are your plans for the future?

There are so many options for the future that it is super hard to pick. If I had to choose my future right now… I would plan to major in communications and leadership and get a job where I would get to work with people every day. I want to have a family and I want to volunteer as much as possible. Basically, what I’m saying is that I want my own perfect version of the American dream.

What’s the first thing you would grab on your way out the door if your house caught fire?

So, this is kind of dorky, but I like scrap-booking a lot. I made a scrapbook of my childhood up through my high school years and I have probably spent like 100 hours on it so I would grab that. It is supposed to be something for me to look at and remember good times.

If you could be a superhero, what would you want your superpowers to be?

I would want to be able to teleport so I would never have to worry about having a car (or paying for gas money) and if I wanted to go someplace far, like Germany, I could just pick up and go.

Want us to match your scholarship, be featured on our blog and be one step closer to paying for college? Let us know if you find and win a scholarship on Zinch and you can!

We are happy to introduce Quinn Colter, winner of a Zinch Matching Scholarship after finding and winning a scholarship on Zinch. She’s hilarious, ambitious, and very smart. We’re proud of students like her who just keep going despite the discouragement they may face. Congratulations, Quinn, you deserve this!

What are your plans for the future?

Go to college. Double major in English and Biology.  Get a job as a copy editor in a book publishing house (if the book publishing world doesn’t implode like people keep telling me it’s going to), or if that doesn’t work out, get a job doing something biological (maybe botany).  Get married.  Raise a family.  Help someone become a better, stronger, happier person (and then keep doing it).

What do you do on rainy days?

Usually I go out and get wet; always, I mourn the fact that I don’t have bright yellow rubber galoshes to splash in puddles with.

What one food could you not live without?

How can you ask me to choose just one?  My top three contenders are bread, soup, and pesto–and I think that bread is the one that I really and truly could not live without.

If you could have dinner with 3 people (dead or alive), who would it be and why?

I’ll have “Authors of Classic Novels” for $500 and pick Fyodor Dostoyevsky, Franz Kafka, and Emily Bronte.  Why?  They’ve all made me want to ask them that same question.  To Mr. Dostoyevsky, “Why are you so depressed?”; to Mr. Kafka, “Why do you have so many issues?”; and to Miss Bronte…  Well, just “WHY?!”

If you could be a superhero, what would you want your superpowers to be?

I want to fly and be able to fix spelling and grammar errors with a point of my finger.  You can call me Grammar Girl.

If you could change one thing in history, what would it be and why?

I would stop that Serbian anarchist from killing the Archduke Ferdinand.  Can you imagine what historical implications that would have?  If I could prevent WWI, it might prevent the Great Depression, WWII, all the miscellaneous conflicts in the Cold War…  That one event led to so many others.  Even if it wouldn’t stop the European alliances from getting themselves into a twist (they hadn’t fought a real war in a goodly long time, and back then Europeans seemed to get tetchy when they’d not had a war for too long), it would change the course of modern history down entirely unpredictable paths.

How are you more than a test score?

A test score cannot convey how well I write (25-minute essays say nothing about how well a person can actually write; they only say how well a person can write a 25-minute essay).  It cannot express that I’m a trained choral soprano, nor can it show that I cook delicious food, nor can it reveal that I have ninja skills (no, really), nor can it demonstrate my propensity for using macro focusing in my photography.

A single number, written in black ink on white paper, is not the measure of a student’s worth.  I am more than a test score because I am a living human being, with talents and interests ranging far beyond the factors standardized tests claim to be measuring.  My test scores do not tell me that I am smart, they tell me that I have inherited my father’s talent for taking multiple-choice tests.  Test scores are something I get.  The more important things to consider about me are the things that I give.

Meet Karyn Stanley, our most recent Matching winner who found and won a scholarship on Zinch. Because of this, we matched it and now she is one step closer to paying for college. With hopes of being a board-certified geophysicist, Karyn is a passionate learner who has a thirst for success. Let’s hear more about her with a few random questions.

What’s the first thing you would grab on your way out the door if your house caught fire?

My MacBook Pro. I love it!

What one food could you not live without?

Cheese. I love cheese on about anything. It’s just so good.

If you could have dinner with 3 people (dead or alive), who would it be and why?

Albert Einstein, Abraham Lincoln, and Homer Hickam. All three of these men are pioneers in their own right, and all are an inspiration to me.

If you had a million dollars and you had to spend it on yourself, what would you do?

I would keep about $200,000 for myself to pay my college tuition and then would use the remaining money to start a foundation. The world needs more budding Geologists and Geophysicists, especially from the Southeast U.S.

If you could change one thing in history, what would it be and why?

I don’t believe in changing history because everyday and every event is merely a stepping stone to the next. Every day is valuable.

How are you more than a test score?

I believe that all people have the ability to transcend the numbers that bind them to the status quo. Numbers can’t define my work ethic, my personality, or my ability to give.

If you’ve found and won a scholarship on Zinch, don’t hesitate to let us know! We love hearing form you, so be sure to shoot us an email over at winner[at]zinch.com.

With the end of the school year, we are getting a lot of matching winners! Congratulations to the most recent winner, Neil Shah, a graduating senior who has plans to attend North Carolina State University in the fall.

He is a Coca-Cola Scholar and because he found the scholarship on Zinch, applied and won, we’re doubling his money! Here’s a little more about this talented Zincher.

Why do you deserve the Coca-Cola Scholars Program scholarship?

The scholarship is focused on students who strive for excellence in every way possible: character, academics, service, and the whole works.  I feel that in this sense I’m a fairly well-rounded person, and I’m honored to be a Coca-Cola Scholar.

What was your reaction when you heard we were matching your scholarship?

I was pretty excited!  I was already glad enough to be winning a scholarship in the first place, but this just added to the happiness.

What are your plans for the future?

Doctorate in Computational Science, work at a research lab, and eventually be a professor of computer science or mathematics.

If you could have dinner with 3 people (dead or alive), who would it be and why?

Richard Feynman - Incredible scientist, with an incredible potential to see through problems right to their solutions.

Alan Turing - Could be considered as a founding father of computer science.

Pierre de Fermat - I wonder if he actually did have a simple proof of his Last Theorem.  If so, I’d want to see it.

If you had a million dollars and you had to spend it on yourself, what would you do?

Establish a hefty retirement account and invest a good portion of it.

How are you more than a test score?

Well, I am an amalgam of interests, especially in science and mathematics.  A test score could do nowhere close to serving the purpose of identifying me.  Plenty of people can have the same test score, but in the end they are all different people!

Have you won a scholarship you applied for on Zinch? Well, let us know and we just might be able to double your money!

Meet Arpan Prabhu. He can’t live without cereal, is attending University of Pittsburgh this fall, and not only won a scholarship from Zinch, but is also getting two scholarships matched by us as well. Why? Because he found and won two scholarships on our site! Talk about using your resources. Congratulations multiple times, Arpan!

Why do you deserve these scholarships (Coca-Cola Scholars and the Principal’s Leadership Award)?

I work hard, I play hard.

What was your reaction when you heard we were matching your scholarship?

I was pretty excited to know that some of the weight of college expenses was lifted from my shoulders.

What do you do on rainy days?

Normally, I’ll end up just loafing around the house, watching television, engorging myself with snacks–all the things that make childhood a blast. If I can, though, I’ll try to get some friends together to play video games, chess, spoons, and whatnot.

What’s the first thing you would grab on your way out the door if your house caught fire?

This would probably depend on what room I was in, but it would probably be something small that could fit in my pocket so it wouldn’t impede my escaping from the house. So maybe some dental floss.

If you could have dinner with 3 people (dead or alive), who would it be and why?

I would be thrilled to have Russell Peters, Kim Jong-il, and a stranger. I enjoy laughter and diversity, and I think Russell (a comedian) could easily cut the tension at the table. Kim Jong-il would provide some interesting views for discussion, and the stranger could turn out to become a new friend or, at the very least, cover the tip.

If you could be a superhero, what would you want your superpowers to be?

The power to grant any power and take away any power at will.

If you had a million dollars and you had to spend it on yourself, what would you do?

I’d probably buy a Kit-Kat and head over to the Hilton Hawaiian Village, flying first-class, and get a massage. Of course, I’d donate money to some local charities I support, too. Finally, I’d probably invest some of the money.

If you could change one thing in history, what would it be and why?

I wouldn’t change anything in history, for I wouldn’t know the future consequences or the chain of events I would trigger.

How are you more than a test score?

I have a personality that can’t be conveyed through boring numbers.

We like matching scholarships at Zinch, so why not give it a try for yourself?

Everyone is focused on March Madnezz it seems, but know that Zinch provides other ways to find money for college, like our Scholarship Matching Program. Find and win a scholarship on Zinch and we’ll match it dollar for dollar. Tania De Los Santos is the most recent winner of a Matching award after finding the Walter R. Hoag Scholarship on Zinch, applying and winning. Really, it’s that easy. She’s a college student, mom, and possibly a future UNC-Chapel Hill ram. Let’s hear what advice she has on the scholarship search.

How did you first hear about Zinch?
I was in my senior year of high school and frantically looking for scholarships to help pay for my education because I didn’t want to have to borrow loans. Like virtually every teenager out there, Google.com was my starting point and I just luckily happened to come across Zinch.com.

What do you like most about Zinch?
My favorite part about Zinch is their teen-friendly interface. The website uses colorful vocabulary, eye-pleasing colors and fonts, and even a chat box to talk to your friends. What more could a high school student want from a scholarship search engine?

What was your reaction when you found out you won the Walter R. Hoag Scholarship?
I was completely shocked; I had applied to over twenty scholarships and had only won two so far. The Walter R. Hoag Scholarship made for three and I was proud of myself (and very thankful too).

What do you wish you had known when you first started high school?
That my grades actually counted for something and, at their highest, would open more doors for me in the future. I made a lot of progress, but I started off weak and that was because I wasn’t aware that high school GPA’s determined a lot when it came to colleges.

If you had one piece for advice for students starting their scholarship search, what would it be?
Unless you are some sort of protégé, don’t expect to win every single one you apply for. Applications take time and effort and judges appreciate it when you take your time and sound like you care about your future and not just the money (from both the scholarship and your future paycheck).

What do you do on a rainy day?
I stay inside and “talk” with my one year old. He’s getting the hang of saying “thank you,” so from the both of us: Thank you Zinch!!

How are you more than a test score?
Well, the easiest way to answer this is to tell you the only way that I am like a test score. In my calculus 3 class, my highest test grade has been a 96; this shows my love for math and that I refuse to score any lower than an 80 on any assignment. Otherwise, I’m a striving student, a loving mommy, and a proud scholarship winner!

Congrats to Tania! If you have found a scholarship on Zinch and won, you could be eligible for Scholarship Matching too. Find out more here!

We are matching so many scholarships over here at Zinch that we can barely keep up! Welcome Nadia Ahlborg to the list of winners. She’s going to be a freshmen at Ohio State University studying Materials Science and Engineering.

Where did you hear about Zinch and what made you start using it?
I heard about Zinch from a friend who used it and liked it better than other scholarship search engines. So, I decided to sign up and try it out.

What was your reaction when you found out you won the Alfred B. Glossbrenner and John Klusch Scholarship?
I was so thrilled! I called my mom in the middle of her meeting to tell her the news, then called my dad at work and ran around the house telling my brothers that I’d just won a ton of money.

Where do you see yourself in five years?
I’m hoping to attend grad school and perform research. Right now, I am especially interested in biomaterials, which are special materials used in medical devices that can mimic human tissue.

What’s your favorite summertime activity?
I love hanging out with all my friends and staying up late!

What’s playing on your iPod right now?
“Violet Hill” by Coldplay

What advice do you have for those seeking scholarships?
Apply to as many scholarships as you can, even if you don’t think you quite qualify. Try to focus on scholarships given by local organizations or your parents’ work, because they will have fewer applicants. For some, you may only be competing with five or ten people, and that definitely improves your chances of winning.

How are you more than a test score?
While my test scores have gotten me far, they won’t help me make new friends or pass classes in college. What will help are all the experiences I’ve had in choir and on the cross-country team, my fun and open personality, and my passion for what I do.

Show us how you’re passionate by filling out your Zinch profile right now!