Casey Campbell | Gazette-Times Philomath High School student Kayleen Hannaway is a finalist in an online scholarship competition through the Web site Zinch.com with a chance to win $20,000.

Philomath girl could win $20,000 in scholarship money

PHILOMATH - Philomath High School senior Kayleen Hannaway isn’t sure how she feels about being in an online popularity contest.

But she is sure that if she wins she’ll put the contest’s $20,000 prize to good use.

Hannaway, 18, has watched in amazement as her profile on the Web site Zinch.com has garnered her enough votes to be days from potentially winning $20,000 in scholarship money.

For the past month, Hannaway and 63 other competitors have been encouraging friends, family and strangers to cast online votes for them while moving up the brackets in a March Madness-style tournament based solely on their profile, which includes a mug shot, a biography and a couple of personal details.

On Monday, Hannaway had reached the top of the competition, competing against Phuong Duong of Fort Smith, Ark., for the cash prize. Today is the last day to vote at zinch.com, and the winner will be announced Wednesday. As of press time Monday, Hannaway had 3,165 votes to Duong’s 2,854 votes.

Hannaway wasn’t sure why she’d made it to the top, but thought it had something to do with the strength of her profile, which she credited to Zinch for providing interesting questions that allowed her to reveal more of herself.

“I had a fun time filling it out and I think it showed more of my personality,” she said. “I talked about how religion is important, but not in a stereotypical way.”

Hannaway originally found Zinch.com when she was researching scholarships online. The site, in addition to hosting the scholarship competition, is focused on providing students an online connection to college recruiters.

At first, Hannaway thought that by filling out the application form and profile information, organizers would pick the winner based on need and merit.

However, when too many qualified applicants applied, the rules changed and suddenly she found herself pitted against other prequalified contestants in a scholarship contest based on the number of votes they received.

So Hannaway had to launch her own campaign to garner votes.

“My church has been a big help,” Hannaway said. Because her church has branches around the nation, she was able to get church members from all over to vote online. She’s also used her Facebook and MySpace accounts to campaign.

Hannaway has been accepted to Vanderbilt University in Nashville, where she plans to pursue a degree in neuroscience.

“I’m interested in studying the brain and how the way people think and learn is connected,” she said. “I want to specialize in how children learn, especially autistic children and autistic savants.”

She might also minor in bassoon, her instrument of choice. A lifelong musician, she picked up bassoon after seeing it in a performance and knowing that not many of her peers would be playing the same thing.

“I liked its uniqueness,” she said.

She also plays trumpet and piano, and performs in the high school symphonic and jazz bands and the Corvallis Youth Symphony, as well as sings in her church choir at United Church of God in Salem, where she performs duets with her twin sister, Kourtney.

Hannaway also plays for the high school softball and volleyball teams. Meanwhile, she holds a steady 4.0 GPA.

Previously, her biggest award was $100 she received last year for writing an essay on the author Ayn Rand.

It costs $54,000 a year to attend Vanderbilt, and although the school has offered a strong financial aid package, Hannaway will still be using a combination of loans and work study, as well as receiving financial help from her parents, who will also have to help her sister, Kourtney, once she chooses a college.

Winning the Zinch.com scholarship would help lift some of that burden off her family.

“I want to help my parents because they’ve given me a good childhood and education,” Hannaway said.

To vote, see www.zinch.com. Voting ends at midnight tonight.

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