List of Scholarships for High School Seniors Graduating in 2012

Finding the best list of scholarships for high school seniors graduating in 2012 is easy if you know a few basic techniques. It is important to recognize the types of qualifications required for different scholarships before beginning your search. Grade point average (GPA), athletic or other in-school extracurricular participation, church or other civic group volunteer work, letters of recommendation, and personal essays are all important elements in successful scholarship applications.

There are two primary ways to find the most complete listings of scholarships. First, talk with your school's guidance (or career) counselor. These trained professionals can help you find the best matches for financial aid based on on your student record and your standardized test scores. Remember to talk to the counselor about your parents' employers and any backgrounds that might qualify you for a diversity scholarship.

Many companies -- McDonald's, IBM, Wal-Mart, just to name a few -- offer scholarships to the children and other close family members of existing employees. Diversity awards are designed to encourage under-represented groups of people to attend and graduate college. Most diversity awards only require one parent have a non-caucasian background, so biracial students often qualify.

The second way to find thorough listings of scholarships is through the internet. Using Google or Bing, simply use a query string such as "high school 2012 scholarships" or "best scholarships 2012" (without the quotes) then follow the links for more information. Be sure to avoid any sites with links featuring warnings from the search engine about malware or potentially harmful content.

Links to some sites contain dangerous content (like viruses) that can execute on your computer without your permission. It is a good idea to gather information about scholarships from the internet including requirements for approval, deadlines for submissions, and types of essays or letters of recommendations considered appropriate. Take this information to your school guidance counselor or have your parent or another trusted adult help you complete the applications.

Applying online is fine provided you are sure the website is legitimate and the protocol is secure (HTTPS). Scholarship applications linked to from.GOV or.EDU domains are good examples of more trustworthy sites, but due diligence should still be exercised. Most applications do not need details such as your social security number in the initial application stage, so call via telephone to verify any applications that seem to ask odd questions like "what is your mother's maiden name?" With a little effort, you are sure to find a list of scholarships for high school seniors graduating in 2012.

High School Football Days

It's fourth and eleven with ten seconds left on the clock. All we need is a touchdown to win the game and then we advance to a bowl game. My best friend is in at quarterback and I am right behind him at tailback. My hands are sweating as I wait for the ball to be hiked. The play that was called is a toss to the left to put the ball in my hands and hopefully bring the team to a win. The stands are silent as the ball is hiked, I swing out to the left of the line and feel the ball hit my hands. I am running with all my heart and can see the endzone twenty yards away, I have an open lane, now fifteen yards, ten, five, touchdown! I hit the endzone and throw the ball into the air. We did it! My best friend comes running up to me screaming and hollering, "we are going to a bowl game!"

That was me my senior year of high school. Our best season in school history we won ten out of twelve games that year and I can say I helped out. Football was my life and all I ever wanted to do. I always dreamed of getting scholarships to play college ball and then go pro, but of course those were dreams and none of that happened.

I started playing football when I was seven years old and played all the way through to my senior year of high school. My dad got me started on football at an early age because he played football his whole life until he broke his ankle in a game on year and that ended his career. My dad played tailback and so of course that was the only position I ever wanted to play. It wasn't easy playing tailback and you really had to prove to everyone especially the coaches that you could do it because tailback is a main aspect to the game. I took some hard hits, including having been knocked out before. I also broke quite a few bones and tore all the ligaments out of my shoulder, but I never once fumbled the ball and that's why the coaches liked me. They knew they could count on me to hold a ball until the play was over.

Now that I am out of high school and can't play football anymore I really miss it. That is my story of high school football and how I loved the sport.

Football can be a rough sport at times, but can also be the time of your life whenever you get to play under those Friday night lights. When you are on a team you meet some really good people and become friends with just about everyone. Plus all the ladies love football players! Practices are one of the worse things about playing football, but it is all worth it when that game comes around once a week.