The legendary Redhead Scholarship for red hair is not a myth - at least not anymore.

 

There are a few things I do find frustrating.  One is the fragmentation of the redhead community worldwide, but that's getting better everyday through big-name events, redhead days and festivals, and media coverage.  Another is urban myths, especially ones that can be harmful.  Fortunately, some redheads of the online community will help bust some redhead myths in late January.

 

 

The Former Myth

One persistant urban myth or urban legend over the years has been the elusive "redhead scholarship" or "scholarship for people with red hair."  Oh, you could scour the search engines.  All you would find is a bunch of redheads asking, "where is the redhead scholarhip?"  That question has gone all over Yahoo Answers.  There's blogs and forums full of comments and conjecture.  Some people proposed that the myth was grounded somewhat in reality; that people referred to scholarships where the surname was "Redhead" (and indeed there are such scholarships).  A formerly prominent redhead social network even says in their FAQ that a red hair scholarship is a myth.

 

 

The Hunt

So as I came across an article and newscast clip with the sensational title "Redheads, air guitarists can find college scholarships in Colorado" I was mixed between hope and frustration.  The scholarships mentioned, such as left-handed people and air guitarists, are very easy to find, but no where did they say where the redhead scholarship was.  I checked the site that the news centers on, www.collegeincolorado.org, and searched for anything red-related I could think of.  Nothing.

 

A letter soon followed to their PR department, perhaps heaping it on a bit with "in an age of growing gingerism" that jerking around redheads for media sensationalism is not good, though "I'd be tickled to be proved wrong" about a redhead scholarship.  Well, I commend the College in Colorado site's PR head for getting back to me (and promptly at that).  Though they did not know where the redhead scholarship was either, they did provide additional help in searching their database and another example of a left-handed scholarship.  They also referred to the news station, as it is the reporter that mentions "redhead" and not the CiC member in the interview.  Still no redhead scholarship in their database though.  Perhaps there could have been one in years past, but as they say on Wikipedia, "citation needed" or in other words "show me the money."

 

It charged me up though.  I felt ready for another go.  I had a bit more failure at Google-fu.  But I remembered my rule, when Google-fu fails - use Yahoo-fu, because Yahoo will index even the most obscure pages on the internet.  A few searches and pages on this latest attempt at Yahoo and I found that blue hyperlink that almost glowed.

 

 

The Redhead Scholarship

So after all of this fiasco, it comes as no wonder that I was greeted by these words by the author and scholarship creator on the site: 

"There are scholarships out there for everyone! There are even scholarships for Redheads and left handed people!". Well, with hope instilled in me by the scholarship authorities, I scoured the internet in search of the infamous Redhead Scholarship. Well guess what? My high school days are over and I have yet to find this scholarship. I even tried to find to find loopholes in the minority scholarships.

 

Being similarly hacked off about the situation and full of redhead love and ginger well-being, the creator decided to go and make their own redhead scholarship.

 

Redhead Scholarship Website

 

Requirements: The requirements are pretty simple.  You must be a junior or senior in high school in the United States.  Grades above 2.0 are acceptable, but there will be some focus on academic standing.  There are two main criteria.  You must submit two photos proving you are a natural redhead.  The most important criteria is to submit something describing what being a redhead means to you - "academic essay, drawing, or YouTube video."  This component is anything goes and creativity and redheadedness are the important things. 

Amount: $250

Deadline: March 31, 2010

Winner Notified: May 1, 2010

 

So give it a go all U.S. high schoolers and please spread the word to any redheads you know or parents of redheads!  We'll make this a hard choice to make.

 

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