I love working with students on finding money for their education as well as the college admissions process. The Passion project is my absolute favorite part of working with the students. It is a fabulous day when a student finds their passion and chooses a way to implement that into their lives. Your passion is often related to your why.
What is a passion project? A passion project is what makes you stand apart from your competition in both the college admissions process as well as in the scholarship process. It is a project you create that allows you to use your passion, dreams, goals, gifts and talents in one place for the greater good of someone else. It is an internship opportunity you create for yourself. Many compare a passion project to a capstone project. Your passion project creates your WOW factor. choosing a passion project allows you ways to explore your passion and see the potential impact you can make through what already interests you.
Once you’ve done your passion project, it gives you a platform of experience to speak about your passion and how you’ve made a significant contribution to that field of interest. Working with students for the last 15 years I’ve seen students choose amazing projects.
Examples of Passion Projects my students have done:
Hannah - She was Jewish and decided that through her contacts she would try to reach out to all living Holocaust survivors and interview them. She was successful in doing this. She then published the interviews in a book and did a presentation at our local library for the community to hear the stories. To her surprise and mine, one of the survivors came to the presentation and told his story in person.
Jarrod - Jarrod’s dad died when he was young. One of the things he missed most was the opportunity to go fishing with his dad. Jarrod reached out to several big box outdoor stores and asked them to donate fishing poles. He rented a pond for a day and then he got his friends on board to volunteer for the day. He sent a flyer out in his community and on social media inviting all sons of single moms to come fish for the day.
Alicia - she wanted to be an event planner. She decided to coordinate with a local nursing home to throw a monthly birthday part for the residents who’d had a birthday that month. She did this for a year. She made a significant impact in the lives of many.
Lindsay - Lindsay loved animals. She trained her golden retriever to be a comfort dog with special needs students at her high school. She advocated for students at her large high school to have comfort dogs on campus to help students with anxiety and stress.
Will - Will wanted to be a veterinarian. He adopted a dog from the animal shelter who had no back legs. He then figured out how to make a device that had 2 wheels on the back, allowing the dog to move around freely.
Sierra - She wanted to be a math teacher. She decided to have a girls math camp in the summer. By doing this, she inspired girls in her community to love math more.
Ally - Ally loves fashion design. She designed several outfits and then hosted a fashion show at her school, allowing several classmates to model the clothes.
The list goes on and on. These students are amazing and so are you.
Here are some questions to get you thinking about creating your own passion project.
What are you passionate about?
What makes your past unique?
Who do you want to impact?
What group of people do you feel most eager to help?
What project would you be proud to be a part of?
What need do you have a solution for?
These are all ideas to get you started.
Formula for building your passion project:
Brainstorm Ideas
Research your idea
Strategize a plan
Execute your plan
Share with others
We would love to hear about your passion project. You are the reason we do what we do! Click here to tell us more and you might just win our passion project scholarship.