Water Ski Scholarship

More than a decade after learning to water ski, it paid off — literally — for Cale Burdick.

Burdick won one of six $1,500 scholarships offered by the American Water Ski Educational Foundation last year, for making a splash both in the water and in the classroom. Winners are chosen based on involvement in water sports and financial need, as well as high grades.

“I actually get better grades during ski season because I’m so focused,” Burdick, a senior at Purdue University, said. “It makes you disciplined. You tell yourself, I really enjoy skiing, so I’d rather work hard on school work now rather than watch T.V. so I have time to ski later.”

Burdick, who says he’s been skiing non-stop since age 5, is a regular jump judge and a state safety director. He’s served as vice president and tournament director of the Purdue Alumni Tournament and as coach of the Indiana and Kansas Junior Development Clinics. Of the nine accepted water ski categories, Burdick participates in traditional water skiing, which includes jump, trick and slalom skiing. His best is slalom, he says, but his favorite is trick — where you’ve got 40 seconds to complete as many tricks, such as the toehold side slide and the double wake flip, as you can. Other water ski categories include show skiing, barefoot skiing, hydro-foiling, wake boarding, knee boarding, ski racing and disability skiing.

Burdick had applied for the water ski scholarship before but didn’t win. Still, he took a few hours to again fill out the application and write another essay, and this time he was successful.

“It does seem like a lot of work, but I got $1,500 for three, four hours of work,” he said. “I would suggest diving in deep for scholarships, because there’s a lot of them. And the more you do, the better.

“I’m a pharmacy student, so even though this is my senior year, I still have three years left, so this definitely helps out. It puts a little loan money to the side.”

The scholarship was established in 1983 and is not based on water skiing ability. For more information, visit www.waterskihalloffame.com.

Studious southpaws, take note: If you’re a sophomore, junior or senior at Juniata College in Huntingdon, Pa., you could win up to $1,500.

With 10 percent of the U.S. population being left-handed, the college says, competition for the scholarship is tough. Established in 1979, the college has awarded more than 40 leftys who have demonstrated both financial need and academic success.

On its website, Juniata reports previous winner Holly Bonker as saying the extra help paying for her education gave her “encouragement about being left-handed.” Bonker, a field hockey player, said she believes being left-handed is an advantage. “In field hockey the left hand guides the stick, so I think I have an advantage because my left hand is stronger. Still, I would like to see more left-handed desks at the college.”

For more information, visit Juniata’s website: www.juniata.edu.

If you’ve got morgues on the mind, you could win up to $2,500 with this spooky scholarship.

Since the 1960s the American Board of Funeral Service Education has awarded scholarships to students pursuing a funeral service or mortuary science education. U.S. citizens enrolled in a related field of study accredited by the ABFSE may apply online once per year for a chance to win. Think it might be for you? Check out www.abfse.org/html/scholarship.html.

How much do people hate bugs? Enough that schools, companies and organizations nationwide sponsor scholarships for students studying pest control every year.

In California, the non-profit Pest Control Operators offers a scholarship to deserving students studying pest management, entomology or related fields. All California students may apply, but those attending the University of California-Riverside have the best chance of winning. More information can be found at www.pcoc.org/scholarship/index.cfm.

In Indiana, Purdue entomology students can apply for the Duane Edwards/Arab Pest Control scholarship at www.agriculture.purdue.edu/oap/scholarships/ scholarship_ details/ent_western.asp.

In Texas, there’s even a scholarship specifically for women interested in pest control. Check out that one at www.nisuscorp.com/pdfs/nisus%20scholarship.pdf.

Live in Illinois? Ohio? On the Gulf Coast? They all have scholarships for pest control. Even if you don’t live in any of these states, there’s also Phi Chi Omega — a national fraternity that awards students everywhere in the United States for insect studies. Check them out at www.pichiomega.org/scholarships1.htm.