I Accidentally Won a Philosophy Scholarship and Bought Lots of Granola

 Once upon a time in 2010, when I was "working" my job at the library, I decided to make use of my time and enter as many scholarship contests as I could. I was pretty poor, and had gotten tired of subsisting on apples and PB& J sandwiches. I entered at least 50 contests, churning out essays while I scanned documents and pointed clueless people into the right section of the endless shelves of books.

 A few months later I got an email from the Philosophy Department, stating that I had won a scholarship. Honestly, I had almost completely forgotten about it, but was quite happy -- that extra cash would upgrade my meals to include a granola bar for the next six months.

I did my best to dress for the occasion, and showed up the scholarship banquet in my piecemeal outfit from Goodwill. I found my seat at the Philosophy Department table, and received sharp and critical stares from all.

"Who are you?" 

I tapped on the name card that had my name on it. "Emily West. That's me."

"Oh, you're the one from the History department, right?"

"Well, actually I am a double major in History and Geography. But I started in Biology and just switched this year. I like a lot of different things."

"So why did you apply for a Philosophy scholarship?"

"It didn't say that I couldn't, so I did. It's a cash prize, so it didn't matter what major I was."

I sat through the Arts and Sciences awards as politely as I could. Once the Philosophy Director took the mic at the podium, my nerves lit up.

"And this year we have an unusual circumstance. This year's Jonathan K Heskett award goes to a student outside of the philosophy department. Emily's essay on her interpretation of cyclicity and generational trauma in regards to environmental integrity was unlike anything I have ever read. Her story really grounded me, and made me think more about the ways in which we can leverage philosophy to change the hearts of people, not so we can be right, but so we can heal."

 I barely remember walking to the podium, and accepting the official university check as 100's of eyes were upon me. I got back to my seat and tried to disappear.

 After the ceremony, one of the philosophy department members took me aside to speak with me. I don't remember their name, but they said they had been part of the panel that read the essays, and that he was similarly impressed by my story. He wished me luck with my endeavors and never saw him again.

That's all to say that, 19 year old Emily was ELATED to be able to get a few extra calories with her philosophy award winnings.