A native of Portland, Oregon, Sam Lim is regarded as one of the most dynamic young speakers about scholarships by high schools, colleges, and organizations across the country. He has had multiple appearances in local radio broadcasting, TV talk shows, and newspapers, including the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, the Spokesman-Review, and the Northwest Asian Weekly. In addition to writing articles for Scholarship Junkies, Sam has guest-written articles for several other education-related websites, including BetterGrad’s College 101 Blog. Sam’s depth of scholarship knowledge, engaging presentations, inspiring personal story, and ability to connect with high school and college students have led him to be recognized as a “scholarship guru” by schools and college resource websites nation-wide.
Sam’s experience in applying for over 75 scholarships throughout high school and winning 18 scholarships that covered his entire college education, including the 2006 Horatio Alger National Scholarship, the 2006 National ChairScholars Scholarship, and the 2006 Gates Millennium Scholarship, led him to found ScholarshipJunkies.com, a scholarship resource website that provides tips from former scholarship winners on how to compile competitive scholarship applications.
Through his leadership in the University of Washington Dream Project, Sam was selected as a 2007 Mary Gates Leadership Scholar for his commitment to expanding scholarship awareness and outreach for students. In 2008, Sam received the Making Connections Distinguished Service Award for his outstanding community service.
Sam continued applying for scholarships, awards, and fellowships in college and was selected as a 2008 Humanity in Action Fellow to research issues of human rights and educational opportunity in Berlin, Germany. In 2010, Sam was selected for a grant through the Fulbright U.S. Student Program and spent the 2010-11 academic year in Germany, researching the relationship between access to higher education and social mobility in Berlin.
Sam graduated with Honors from Mead Senior High School in Spokane, Washington, in 2006 and graduated with a Bachelors of Arts in International Studies from the University of Washington in Seattle, Washington, in 2010. Recently returned to Seattle from Germany, Sam serves on the Board of Directors for Graduate Washington PAC, the Board of Advisors for BetterGrads, and represents Scholarship Junkies on the advisory group for the Washington Scholarship Coalition, which oversees Washington state’s latest online scholarship resource, theWashBoard.org. Aside from continuing his role as a consultant on issues related to scholarships, Sam plans to continue tackling issues of college access and affordability through public service in the many years to come.
To contact Sam personally, please email him at sam@scholarshipjunkies.com.
Photo Credits | Rachel Youngblood
