The 2023 Desire To Inspire Scholarship is a one-time financial award of $3000 (1st place – $1500, 2nd place – $1000, 3rd place – $500) that is dedicated to recognizing young individuals from historically underrepresented minority groups who are interested in a career in healthcare and are making a determined effort to inspire others in some way, shape or form. The award can be used for educational purposes and/or for the purpose of pushing their missions of inspiration forward.

Applicants must currently be a rising high school junior or senior, meaning that applicants must be either in their junior or senior year in the fall of the upcoming academic school year. Applicants must also be a member of one or more of the following historically underrepresented minority racial or ethnic groups (Black/African-American, Native American, and/or Latinx-American), be interested in pursuing a career in healthcare, and have a minimum cumulative GPA of 2.5.

After the submission deadline has passed (Sunday, June 4th, 2023), each eligible application will be thoroughly reviewed by several judges, all of whom will use the following criteria to judge the applications:

• Content
• Spelling / Grammar
• Coherence / Organization
• Voice
• Quality of CV / Resume
• Effort

Each applicant will receive a score from each judge, and these scores will then be averaged into one single score for the applicant. Once each application has been reviewed and every score has been tallied, the five applicants with the highest scores will advance to the voting round. These finalists will be notified of their selection and will take part in an online voting competition to help determine the winner of the scholarship. This competition also serves two other purposes:

• It provides these incredible students a way to share with the world what they are doing to inspire others around them
• It gives the public the chance to actively participate in a scholarship process that was funded by themThe competition will take place on a separate page on this blog, that of which will host the pictures of the five finalists, links to their scholarship question answers, and a poll that will allow voters to make their selections. The outcome of the voting competition will constitute 10% of the overall score, with the judges’ scores constituting 90% of the overall score.After the competition ends, the final scores will be tallied and the winners of the 2023 Desire To Inspire Scholarship will be officially announced. The three winners will receive their scholarship checks via mail and each of the five finalists will receive a certificate. In the unlikely event of a tie, the scholarship will be split between the individuals engaged in it.For more information and application, visit https://blackmanmd.com/the-desire-to-inspire-scholarship/.