When I began researching colleges, my parents reassured me that the benefits of a good education outweighed its financial costs. Because of their encouragement, I felt free to investigate colleges without obsessing about their listed price. Nonetheless, deciding to attend college, especially a private college, requires a realistic outlook. Therefore, though I like to approach my college years as an investment that will someday pay off with a higher paycheck, I also understand that I will, more likely than not, accrue debt. Even so, I feel it is possible to minimize that debt, without relying on winning the lottery in the near future. Scholarships provide a way to do this.

I began my scholarship search early in high school; guidebooks assured me that I did not need to be a junior or senior to find applicable scholarships. I soon found this to be true; many are available for 9th and 10th graders as well. I started on a broad base with online search engines. Lunch-money.com provides one example of a great internet search tool. Websites customizing scholarship searches to my abilities and interests, as well as listing potential scholarships in order of relevance and the approaching deadline, were especially useful.

Soon into my search, I discovered how many different types of scholarships exist. There are ones for left-handers, photographers, athletes, even descendents of the Founding Fathers. Or if, like me, you are none of the above, there are other options available. Focusing on a few of my abilities and interests, such as writing and community service, made the search less overwhelming.

The more I discovered the vast array of available scholarships, the more I realized the differences in time required to complete them. Some call for little time, effort, or thought. Some of these were in the form of sweepstakes completed in a couple minutes. Unwittingly, I signed up for some; all I got from them was an abundance of junk mail in my e-mail inbox.

At the other end of the spectrum, however, are worthy scholarships, and contests that provide money for college savings. Unfortunately, to the harried mind of a busy high schooler, the downfall of many of these is that they often require much work and time. Scholarships requiring 1,000-5,000 word essays, including those requiring research, are especially daunting. Last year, I devoted hours to reading Ayn Rand's 700-page masterpiece, The Fountainhead, and writing an essay on a related topic. Unfortunately, I had no luck with this one.

At the local level, however, I have had more luck. I placed 3rd in a local essay contest, using the money to buy some college supplies, and won a couple regional essay contests awarding savings bonds. Even though the monetary rewards of local scholarships and contests are usually not as great as national ones, the chances of winning these are, of course, greater.

Applying for scholarships, whether national or local, requires planning. I have a binder where I keep all relevant materials: lists of upcoming scholarship deadlines, my up-to-date transcript, and letters of recommendation. By keeping forms like this together in one place (both academic and extracurricular), when I'm preparing a scholarship application, everything is organized and close at hand.

Awaiting results is the worst part of the search for money. Only winners are notified. So if I don't win a scholarship, I have no way of knowing what I did wrong or what I could have improved. The main thing I realize now is that applying for scholarships is similar to applying to college. Many qualified candidates are turned down; other applications do not meet the selection committee's criteria, whether because they're incomplete or not up to par with the quality of the winners' applications.

Yet even if there are no monetary awards, there are other benefits. Again, in this way, scholarships are similar to college applications. Through them, I learn more about my future dreams and about myself by trying to convey to scholarship committees my personality, character, and future ambitions. And even though I didn't receive recognition for my essay on Ayn Rand's novel, I enjoyed reading and analyzing a book that, otherwise, I probably won't have picked up.

I'm in the process now of concluding other scholarship applications and, as a National Merit Finalist, am awaiting results from this program. I also plan to continue applying for scholarships in the next four years. Upon college graduation, I hope I can look back knowing I planned wisely and, I hope, earned as much as I could to minimize debt.

Still, winning the lottery would be nice.