SAN ANTONIO, Texas, Sept. 11, 2012 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- After an outpouring of entrants from all fifty states and more than two dozen other nations, CollegePlus is proud to announce that Michele Bass has been selected as the 2012 winner of the $25,000 College of Your Choice Scholarship from CollegePlus.
CollegePlus had asked current and prospective students to submit a written or video essay outlining what their dreams were and how receiving a scholarship from CollegePlus to earn their Bachelor's degree from the college of their choice would help them achieve that dream. Michele explained in her essay that, although her health is still fragile from serious bouts of dengue fever and malaria, she has a deep passion to help the indigenous people of Asia and desires to earn her bachelor's degree to assist her in doing that.
When asked about the difficulty of selecting the winner, Smitty Wheeler, CMO of CollegePlus, reported that, "While there were dozens of exceptional stories, incredible life-experiences and noble dreams that were shared in these submissions, we were able to narrow the decision down to three amazing essays that embodied all of these elements. It was only after a long night of wrestling that our judges were able to select Michele's essay as the grand prize winner - and I believe that was definitely the right choice. I'm thrilled that CollegePlus can now help Michele to continue along the incredible journey that she has begun. Fulfilling dreams and achieving an individual's life calling is what the CollegePlus program is all about and Michele is a perfect fit."
From the initial submissions, over 500 essays successfully moved through the first round of criteria and into the full scholarship contest. The judging panel then had the monumental task of reading and watching each submission over the last 48 hours to decide who deserved the grand prize scholarship. Additionally, they awarded two students the runner-up prize of a $3,000 CollegePlus scholarship. These prizes were awarded to Edwin 'E' Gaffney for his video essay entitled 'College Cowboy' and Brittany Priess for her "Four Years, Fourteen Countries. What is Next?" written essay.
To read Michele's grand prize winning essay and view the essays of E and Brittany, visit the CollegePlus blog for the official announcement.
About CollegePlus:
CollegePlus is a Christian company that creates customized dual credit and Bachelor's degree programs for students, based on their personality, learning style, and life purpose, then integrates personal coaching and mentoring to empower students to reach their educational and life goals, without the time constraints and debt burden of traditional college.
CollegePlus has forged Bachelor's degree partnerships with leading accredited colleges and universities that allow students to maximize time and money savings through CollegePlus credit-bearing courses and their unique credit by exam program.
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For more information, visit www.collegeplus.org or contact Taryn DiMartile in the Public Relations Department at taryn.dimartile@collegeplus.org or 1-866-989-5432, extension 857.