How to Write the Bob Borgstede Memorial Award Essay

If the application provides a specific prompt, underline the verbs. Words such as describe, explain, discuss, or share tell you what kind of thinking is required. Then identify the hidden questions beneath the prompt: What shaped you? What have you already done? What challenge remains? Why does this scholarship matter at this point in your education?

A strong essay for this kind of award is not a life summary. It is a selective argument built from lived evidence. The committee should finish with a clear impression: this student has substance, direction, and a credible reason this support will matter.

Brainstorm in Four Buckets Before You Outline

Most weak essays fail before drafting begins. The writer starts with a vague theme instead of gathering material. To avoid that, sort your ideas into four buckets and list concrete details under each one.

1. Background: what shaped you

This is not an invitation to tell your entire biography. Focus on experiences that changed your priorities, discipline, or sense of responsibility. That might include work, family obligations, a turning point in school, military service, caregiving, relocation, financial pressure, or a moment when you recognized what education could unlock.

• What specific event or period best explains your current direction?
• What did daily life require from you at that time?
• What belief, habit, or commitment came out of that experience?

2. Achievements: what you have already done

Committees trust evidence more than claims. Instead of saying you are hardworking or committed, show where you carried responsibility and what happened because of your effort. Use accountable details when they are honest and available: hours worked, semesters completed, leadership roles held, projects finished, grades improved, people served, or measurable outcomes.

• Where did you solve a problem, improve a process, or help others?
• What was difficult about that situation?
• What actions did you personally take?
• What changed as a result?

3. The gap: why further study and funding fit now

This is the part many applicants underwrite. The committee needs to understand the distance between where you are and where you are trying to go. Be concrete. The gap may be financial, academic, professional, or logistical. The key is to explain why education is the right bridge and why this support would help you cross it.

• What next credential, skill, or training do you need?
• What stands in the way right now?
• How would scholarship support change your ability to persist, focus, or complete your program?

4. Personality: what makes the essay feel human

This bucket keeps your essay from sounding interchangeable. Add details that reveal judgment, values, and voice: a habit, a small scene, a line of dialogue, a routine, a choice you made when no one required it, or a moment that shows humility or humor. Personality is not decoration. It helps the reader trust that a real person is speaking.

Once you have notes in all four buckets, circle the details that connect. The best essays usually build around one central thread rather than four separate mini-essays.

Choose a Focused Story Arc, Not a List of Merits

Now turn your brainstorm into a structure. A strong scholarship essay often works best when it begins with a concrete moment, moves into the challenge or responsibility behind that moment, shows what you did, and ends by explaining what the experience taught you and why support matters now.

That means your opening should not announce your intentions. Do not begin with lines such as “I am applying for this scholarship because…” or “I have always been passionate about education.” Instead, open inside a scene or with a specific fact that carries tension. For example, you might begin with a shift ending late at night, a conversation about tuition, a classroom moment that changed your direction, or a responsibility you had to meet before you could think about your own coursework.

After that opening, move through the essay with discipline:

1. Set the context. Briefly explain the situation so the reader understands the stakes.
2. Name the challenge. What obstacle, pressure, or responsibility made this moment significant?
3. Show your actions. What did you do, decide, organize, improve, or persist through?
4. State the result. What changed, concretely or personally?
5. Answer “So what?” Why does this experience matter for your education now, and why does scholarship support fit this next step?

Keep one main idea per paragraph. If a paragraph tries to cover your family history, work schedule, career goals, and financial need all at once, split it. Clear progression helps the committee follow your reasoning and remember your case.

Draft with Specificity, Reflection, and Forward Motion

When you write the first draft, aim for evidence plus interpretation. Evidence tells the reader what happened. Interpretation tells the reader why it matters. You need both.

Use concrete detail

Replace broad claims with observable facts. “I balanced multiple responsibilities” is weak on its own. “I worked twenty hours a week while carrying a full course load” is stronger because it gives the reader something to picture. If your experience includes numbers, timeframes, or scope, use them honestly. Specificity creates credibility.

Reflect instead of merely reporting

Many applicants can describe hardship or effort. Fewer can explain what those experiences changed in them. Reflection is where your essay becomes persuasive. Ask yourself: What did this teach me about responsibility, judgment, service, persistence, or the kind of work I want to do? Why did this experience matter beyond the moment itself?

Good reflection avoids melodrama. It does not inflate ordinary events into life lessons that feel borrowed. It simply shows that you can learn from experience and connect that learning to your next step.

Keep the tone grounded

Write with confidence, not performance. You do not need to sound grand to sound serious. In fact, plain, direct sentences often carry more authority than inflated language. Prefer “I organized tutoring sessions for classmates who were falling behind” over “I spearheaded an innovative academic support initiative.” The first sounds like a person. The second sounds like a brochure.

End by looking ahead

Your conclusion should not repeat your introduction in softer language. It should show momentum. After the reader understands your background, achievements, and current gap, explain what comes next. How will continued study help you build on what you have already started? How would scholarship support help you stay focused, complete requirements, or expand your contribution to others?

The best endings feel earned. They arise from the story you have told rather than from generic statements about dreams or success.

Revise for the Question Beneath the Question

Revision is where strong essays separate themselves. After drafting, read your essay as if you were a committee member with limited time. Ask not only whether the essay sounds good, but whether it answers the deeper concern behind scholarship selection: why this applicant, and why now?

A revision checklist that works

• Is the opening concrete? Does it begin with a moment, image, or fact rather than a generic thesis?
• Is there a clear through-line? Can you summarize the essay’s main point in one sentence?
• Did you show action? Have you described what you actually did, not just what you felt?
• Did you include results? Are there outcomes, improvements, or consequences the reader can grasp?
• Did you reflect? Does each major section answer “So what?”
• Is the need specific? Have you explained the real gap between your current position and your educational next step?
• Does the essay sound like a person? Could this have been written only by you, or could any applicant swap in their name?

Then revise at the sentence level. Cut filler. Replace abstract nouns with active verbs. If a sentence hides the actor, rewrite it so the reader knows who did what. If a paragraph repeats an idea, compress it. Strong scholarship essays respect the reader’s time.

Avoid the Mistakes That Make Essays Forgettable

Some problems appear so often that avoiding them already improves your chances of writing a memorable essay.

• Do not open with clichés. Avoid lines such as “From a young age,” “I have always been passionate about,” or “Ever since I can remember.” These phrases flatten your voice before your essay begins.
• Do not confuse need with entitlement. If finances are part of your story, explain them clearly and respectfully. Show how support would help you continue or complete your education, not why you are simply owed assistance.
• Do not list achievements without context. A resume format inside an essay rarely persuades. Choose one or two experiences and develop them.
• Do not overstate. If your role was meaningful but local, present it honestly. Credibility matters more than grandeur.
• Do not rely on vague passion. If you care deeply about a field, prove it through choices, work, service, persistence, or study.
• Do not forget the future. An essay that only looks backward can feel unfinished. Show how past experience informs your next educational step.

Finally, leave time for one last read aloud. Your ear will catch what your eyes miss: repeated words, rushed transitions, and sentences that sound unlike you. The goal is not a perfect performance. It is a clear, honest, well-structured essay that helps the committee understand your readiness and your direction.

If you want an external standard while revising, writing center guidance from universities can help you test clarity and structure. Resources such as the Purdue OWL application essay guide and the UNC Writing Center on application essays are useful for checking whether your draft is specific, reflective, and reader-focused.