Be A Friend Project Scholarship

Scholarship Sponsored by Be A Friend Project

Important — Submissions are now CLOSED - Deadline passed: submissions closed at 11:59 p.m. on August 31. The submit/upload buttons have been removed. - Thank you to everyone who applied. Good luck — the winner will be announced on October 1, 2025, to kick off National Bullying Prevention Month. About the scholarship - Name: Annual Be A Friend Project Scholarship - Who can apply: All high school students - 2025 timeline: Open June 1–August 31, 2025 (now closed) - Award: One $500 winner, announced October 1, 2025 - Eligibility note: Applicants must be following at least one of the scholarship’s social media accounts (see the scholarship page for the account list). Writing prompt — your assignment We all know the “right” response when we see someone being bullied, but real life is messier. Imagine this scene: - A group of friends sits together at lunch, talking about a classmate who’s being bullied. - The twist: the person doing the bullying is usually one of their friends — but that friend is not at lunch that day. - The conversation shifts. Some students say the bullying is wrong; others hesitate. Is it their place to get involved? Will speaking up mean “snitching” on someone they hang out with every day? Your challenge: Write a 2–4 page script of that lunchtime conversation. Show us: - Why they should step in, - What’s stopping them, - How they can overcome those barriers, - How ordinary bystanders can become real-life UPstanders. Formatting requirement - Please submit your script in 12‑point Times New Roman with standard 1‑inch margins. How we’ll judge your work Scripts will be evaluated on: - Creativity, - Realism and emotional depth, - Knowledge of bullying and its consequences. AI policy - We strongly discourage using AI to generate your script. Submissions that rely on AI tend to sound the same; to be fair to all entrants, scripts that rely on AI will receive a zero for creativity. We want your voice, your ideas, and your heart — that’s what makes a story stand out. Questions If you have questions, check the scholarship page or contact the program coordinators listed there. I’m proud that so many of you tackled this topic — these are important conversations to have.