At Scholarship Junkies, we don't want to just share our scholarship secrets with you. We want to share examples of our scholarship secrets paying off too. Through our Scholarship Junkies profiles, you'll be inspired by stories of Scholarship Junkies pursuing their dreams, and you'll hear diverse perspectives on how to approach the scholarship application process successfully.

As a fervent bookworm, I couldn’t agree more with the wise words of Saint Augustine when she said “the world is a book, and those who do not travel read only one page.” My family hardly went on any vacations abroad when I was a kid, so I always grew up fantasizing about what it would be like to jet across the globe. It wasn’t until I was a high school senior when I discovered that college scholarships could finance global learning opportunities. With that in mind, I applied—more like devoured—for as many scholarships as I could in the hopes that I would win at least one to travel to the other side of the world. My veracity paid off; I won over twenty competitive scholarships, grants, and fellowships that provided me with enough funding to attend the University of Washington on a full ride.

Scholarships fund departmental study abroad seminars that allow me to take my learning outside the conventional classroom. For instance, the Dell Scholars Program provided me with a laptop and virtual textbook credits so that I could study the evolution of music technology in France.

With the Elks National Foundation Most Valuable Student Scholarship, I was able to observe the advent of emerging information communication technology in the rural villages of Costa Rica. The Global Opportunities Scholarship paid for my trek through the Mediterranean (from Italy to Turkey) to develop websites for NGOs along the way.

I was even able to take an intensive graduate-level research methods course in the Netherlands that was completely funded by the Gilman International Scholarship Program. Now, as a McNair Scholar, I continue going on all-expenses-paid flights to present my ongoing research projects at academic conferences across North America. Initially, my parents weren’t too thrilled to have me spend money to travel to distant lands for college credit. However, telling them that not a single penny comes out of my own pocket gives them peace of mind.

My experiences studying abroad have undeniably broadened my undergraduate education with international horizons. I recommend prospective students to set aside a significant amount of time when filling out exhaustive scholarship applications—taking 20 hours to fully polish a scholarship application that can net $4,000+ may well be worth the investment. Scholarships alleviate the financial stress that comes with travel so that students can focus on immersing in new cultures. I encourage every student to see as many unread pages of the world as possible by studying abroad, using scholarships as a financial vessel for their exploration.

Bryan Dosono is a student at the University of Washington pursuing an Honors Bachelor of Science Degree in Informatics with a focus in Human Computer Interaction. His research interests lie at the intersection of information, technology, and society. In addition to publishing work in the fields of public access computing and digital inclusion, Dosono serves as an appointed commissioner for the Citizen’s Telecommunications and Technology Advisory Board for the City of Seattle. He plans to enroll in a PhD program for technology policy, and aspires to be the Chief Information Officer of the United States someday. Dosono hopes to serve as a bridge between engineers, policy makers, and other key stakeholders to transform the landscape of the nation’s information technology infrastructure.