Scholarships.com Awards Art Scholarship to Director of The Laramie Project

Julia D, a 2009 graduate of Concord High School in Concord, NH, received the $1,000 Scholarships.com College Art Scholarship for her response to the question, "What has influenced you to pursue a career in art?" In her essay, Julia discussed her experience directing a controversial play of The Laramie Project, which portrays the heartbreaking story of a brutal anti-gay hate crime in the modern Midwest. Based on the 1998 Matthew Shepard murder, the play was written by Moises Kaufman who traveled to Laramie, Wyoming to conduct interviews with local residents, as well as family and friends of Shepard soon after his death. Throughout this process, Julia observed theater's ability to confront negative attitudes and bring about change in her community. Julia will continue to pursue her career in theater at Tulane University this fall.

Scholarships.com began awarding Area of Study College Scholarships in summer 2008. The competition has now entered its second year, granting $1,000 scholarships to high school seniors and undergraduate students planning to pursue careers in most every field of study.

"These scholarships invite students to talk about their future careers and the impact they hope to have on the world," said Emily Hilleren, Director of Content for Scholarships.com. "The Area of Study College Scholarships are part of our mission to make paying for college easier for dedicated students like Julia who are actively pursuing their career goals."

These scholarships aren't just for A+ students and star athletes. Applicants for The Scholarships.com Area of Study Scholarships are asked to compose an essay describing the major influences on their choice of career. These scholarships are open to all U.S. citizens who will be attending college, regardless of age, test scores or grade point average.

To apply for the Scholarships.com Area of Study College Scholarships, students can visit www.scholarships.com, conduct a free college scholarship search and complete an online scholarship application.

Scholarships.com is a free college scholarship search service and financial aid information resource that allows members to create a user account and search a database of millions of scholarship and grant opportunities worth billions of dollars.

Chicago Awards - Live Stats

Best Musical - Top 3

1. HAIRSPRAY (Uptown Music Theater of Highland Park)

7.3% of votes

2. RENT (Highland Park Players)

7.2% of votes

3. THE WIZARD OF OZ (Up and Coming Theatre/Elgin Summer Theater)

6.6% of votes

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