2008 Arizona Is Home Scholarship

It Is Time For The 2008 Arizona Is Home Scholarship.

This year, I am doing something new for the “Arizona Is My Home” Scholarship. The winner will be the first student to be awarded a scholarship by participating in a Web 2.0 scholarship program. Applicants for the “Arizona Is My Home” will develop a Blog thread with his/her Arizona hometown being the central theme. This year’s recipient will be my fourth $2500 scholarship awarded.

Web 2.0 is a concept that has many meanings on the web. My interpretation of Web 2.0 is that web visitors have an opportunity to interact with those that write the content. So my focus this year is on using Blog’s to share ideas.

For the 2008-2009 “Arizona Is My Home” scholarship, students will create Blog entries. Then, visitors to the site will comment on the student’s thoughts. Each student participating will have an opportunity to develop his/her idea fully and establish a community of readers.

My goal is to help provide students a forum to learn and understand how to use the web to create and promote their own ideas. I also want readers to discover why Arizona is such a great place to call home.

There is still two additional changes to this year’s scholarship. This year’s scholarship Participants will have two choices for the writing prompt. One option is to create a piece that promotes his/her Arizona hometown and encourages others to consider making it their home also. The second choice is to write on the experience of losing a home. This second option was chosen to link faces to a tragedy that is destroying families and communities across Arizona.

The second change is that the scholarship is open for use at any accredited school in Arizona. This should help those that have chosen to attend proprietary schools like The University of Phoenix or the Arizona Culinary Institute.

The directions on how you can become a participant are below. Please be sure to read them carefully. If you have questions, you are always welcome to write me at chapman@westusa.com for additional help.

The “Arizona Is My Home” Rules and Regulations

1. The “Arizona Is My Home” Scholarship Writing Prompt (Two Options Available)

The first option is for individuals who already live in an Arizona town or city. The focus of the prompt is to develop an essay with his/her Arizona hometown being the focus. Students are encouraged to create a piece that promotes his/her Arizona hometown and encourages others to consider making it their home also.

The second option is in response to the increased number of families who have lost their home or may lose a home in the near future. Students will either Blog about what home means by explaining the loss of a home or the experience of moving into a home after not having a home of their own.

2. Initial foundation Blog posts should be long enough to establish premises that will enable readers to understand and comment.

3. Participants must add to their concept, reflect and respond to the comments of readers.

4. Blog entries must be written in English.

5. Language and concepts must be appropriate for a General or G Rated audience. Violation of this rule will result in immediate termination of the participant’s account.

6. All work submitted must be original, authored solely and completely by the applicant.

7. Each Blog thread will be judged based on the number of comments received, the structure of the concepts developed and the number of other Blog’s or websites that mention or comment on the participant’s concept or idea.

8. Each participant shall establish an account on the Arizonan.com. Then, follow these simple steps to become a participant in the “Arizona Is Home Scholarship” program.

Step 1: Go to http://www.arizonan.com/wp-login.php?action=register or by click on the login link at the bottom of the site. Enter a user name and email address. Remember that both the user name and password will be case sensitive.

Step 2: Go to your email account and complete the registration process.

Step 3: To http://www.arizonan.com/wp-admin/profile.php or click log in link at the bottom of the http://www.arizonan.com website. Then, click on the profile link in the upper right hand side of the page. The first link is much easier.

Step 4: Complete the profile information. For website, place your current school’s website or the website of the school you will be attending. Pay close attention to the biography portion of the profile. This will one of the elements reviewed in determining the winner.

 

Step 5: Blog your idea and develop a following. Blog about your ideas on other Blog’s and encourage others to visit your Blog on the Arizonan.com. Respond to comments and add to your concept on a regular basis.

The focus of this scholarship is to encourage students to learn how to use the power of the web to share their own ideas and motivate others. The “Arizona Is My Home” Scholarship was designed to be the first of its kind - Web 2.0 Scholarship.

9. Winners will be notified by phone and/or mail. Complete results will be posted at www.Arizonan.com. All submissions become the sole property of Carl Chapman and may be republished in whole or in part. Carl Chapman reserves the right not to award a prize or any prizes when submissions do not meet contest standards or criteria.

10. Scholarship monies become available to successful applicants who are full-time matriculated students. Participants must have completed 12 credit hours at the students Arizona school, college or university from which they seek to graduate

The “Arizona Is My Home” Scholarship may be applied for and awarded to a student prior to completing this above stated requirement. However, funds will be held until the final requirement is met.

11. The scholarship monies will be paid to the student’s college or university, after Carl Chapman receives notification from the college or university of the student’s qualifying standing. Payments will only be issued to Arizona colleges or universities. New this year, students of private and for profit schools are eligible to participate.

12. All requirements of the scholarship must be met within 12 months of the awards. Failure to meet these requirements will result in loss of the award.

13. Unused scholarship funds will be held for future scholarship programs.

14. The “Arizona Is My Home” Scholarship can be applied for and awarded to a student prior to completing required conditions, by students who have been accepted to a Arizona college or university and by students who are currently enrolled and attending an Arizona college or university.

15. “Arizona Is My Home” Scholarship Timetable:

May 22, 2009 - The scholarship winner will be notified.

16. Employees of Carl Chapman and their family members are not eligible to participate.

17. Carl Chapman shall be the sole judge of all entries and his decision shall be final.

All Participants agree to abide by the rules of the “Arizona Is My Home” Scholarship program. Participants attest that all of the information provided is true and complete and may be verified through any means necessary.

18. By participating in the “Arizona Is My Home” Scholarship, certify that all submissions and writings are original, authored solely by the participant, and are not plagiarized or otherwise infringed upon the rights of any third party. Participants authorize Carl Chapman to confirm any details in this application by contacting the appropriate person(s).

19. Acceptance of the scholarship constitutes permission to use the winner’s names and/or likenesses for advertising, trade, and publicity purposes without further compensation. Carl Chapman also reserves all rights, including the right to edit, publish, use, adapt or modify any entry, including any personal information about the scholarship recipient and/or applicant quote, picture, essay, school name or year in school, without further consideration or payment to the scholarship recipient and/or applicant. Participants grant permission to share this information for the purpose of news media releases and/or commerce and/or assignee’s.

Writings may be published in whole or in part by Carl Chapman or by other parties associated, with Carl Chapman’s written permission. Carl Chapman reserves the right not to publish any essay it deems inappropriate for any reason. Carl Chapman reserves the right not to award a prize or any prizes when submissions do not meet contest standards or criteria.

20. Release of Information for Scholarships:

By submitting content and participating in the Arizona Is Home Scholarship program, Participants authorize the School, College or University to deposit any co-payable checks without my endorsement in order to expedite my scholarship award. Furthermore, participants authorize the release of academic and financial information to scholarship donors.

What is Home?

     I can’t believe it! The guy I’ve been eyeing all night is walking over to me! I hope I don’t have anything stuck between my teeth – too late. He’s here. And cue an award-winning smile.

 

     “I don’t think I’ve seen you here before,” he says. I smilingly responded that I just moved here. He continues, “So, where’s the good ol’ hometown then?” That is when I ruined it. He couldn’t just have asked, “Where did you move from?” or something easy to answer, could he?

 

     I asked him to define “home” and “hometown.” Yes, I did. Just like that. The conversation stiffened and at the first opportunity he could find, he exited stage left with the “Good to meet you” line.

 

     My father served in the Air Force until I turned twelve. We moved every third year. What then qualifies as my hometown? The dictionary defines hometown as “the town or city of one’s birth, rearing, or main residence.” By this definition, my predicament remains a puzzle. My birth town is Colfax. I grew up in Sandy, Kennewick and San Antonio. My main residence now is Tucson. Is it fair for me to have five hometowns? Although I have fond memories in all of these cities, I do have trouble calling any of them my hometown. I have a different definition of hometown that applies to my unique position.

 

     Hometown to me is the place of childhood that remained absolute. Therefore, whenever I moved, “hometown” remained the same, my personal point of reference. By this definition, my hometown is Phoenix; it is Grandma’s home.

 

     No matter my age, or location I always knew that home is where I live at that given moment. That means while camping, the tent was home. While moving, the car was home. Home just meant that I returned there after the day’s activities and I could relax.

 

     When I moved out of my mother’s home, that became “back home.” I always thought of the old western stories that would move settings by the phrase “back on the ranch” when I referred to “back home.” It is a different place with a different plot and different characters, but somehow my story involves that story, but even “back home” can change. Should my family move, “back home” invariably moves with them.

 

     Because I developed these definitions to fit my life, Arizona always held a special place for me. It never changed and became the prime example of stability in my life. This played a big part in my selection of a university. I wanted that quality in my new “home.”  I longed for an end to the constant change of the military life of my childhood. In addition, I knew Arizona could provide that for me.

 

    I knew this because of our many trips to visit Grandma. Not only did her house remain unchanged, but it seemed the state did too. We loved to visit Hole in the Rock. We stopped to watch the beautiful sunsets. Dirt Devils always accompanied us down the long stretches of interstate. This was always Arizona. These are what I came to love and expect on each visit.

 

    Back home my family worried that I would dislike the desert scenery of Tucson. They warned me that adjusting to the dry heat would prove difficult. They advised me to fall in love with the boring color brown and not to expect people as friendly as I liked. Back home they cannot begin to guess how deeply I have fallen in love with home in these few weeks.

 

     The lizards and monsoons that appear out of nowhere never cease to amaze me. Plants built to survive this weather and people who nurture the others enough for them to thrive teach me to define my own life and succeed with the help of my newfound friends. The heat may be dry, but the people are not. They treat me like family. I have received the same reception here that I did every time I went to Grandma’s house—like I finally returned to the place I am supposed to be.

 

     My first Arizona dance may not have produced my first Arizona date, but I messed it up, not the state. I still hold high hopes of marrying and settling down in my hometown. Now that I am here, I do not want to leave. For the first time in my life, my home is in my stable place, in my hometown