Thrive and Rise Through Learning Essay Contest
$5,000 Top Prize
Students attending college in 2025-2026 are invited to apply for our Thrive and Rise Through Learning Essay Contest with a top prize of $5,000. Applicants must be new or returning full-time students attending an accredited institution and must have a minimum GPA of 2.0. Previous winners are welcome to apply.
Sunward also seeks members to volunteer as judges and help choose this year’s winners. Learn more and sign up to volunteer at the bottom of this page.
AWARDS
The top essay will receive a $5,000 scholarship for college expenses. Winners will be announced in September, publicly listed on GoSunward.org/essay-contest/winners, and featured in Sunward’s quarterly Dollars & Sense email. Tax liability on prize monies is the responsibility of the recipient.
ELIGIBILITY
The Thrive and Rise Through Learning Essay Contest is open to students who:
- Will be new or returning full-time students in the 2025 – 2026 academic year to an associate, bachelor’s, or master’s degree program at an accredited institution. (Note: Doctoral degree candidates are not eligible to participate in the competition.)
- Are U.S. citizens or legal permanent residents of the United States
- Are not Sunward employees, volunteers, or their children
APPLICATION REQUIREMENTS
- An original essay addressing the topic: “Credit unions are built on the philosophy of 'people helping people'. Describe a time when you demonstrated this philosophy in your own life and share a specific example of how you've applied financial knowledge to plan, save, or make informed decisions about college expenses.” Your essay should bring this topic to life, must be 500 words or fewer in length, and your original work. All essays will be evaluated for the use of AI and essays with more than 5% AI use will be disqualified.
- A PDF copy of your latest grade transcript showing a current cumulative grade point average (high school or college) of at least 2.0, along with your name and school.
- A concise résumé in PDF format that lists your academic honors, sports, extracurricular activities, accomplishments, volunteer activities, and work experience (as applicable).
- One (1) letter of recommendation provided by an adult (teacher, counselor, coach, employer, etc.) to whom you are not related.
APPLICATION SUBMISSION INSTRUCTIONS
Sunward will only consider completed applications received by Monday, June 30, 2025 at 11:59 p.m. MT. The applicant should:
- Click START OR MANAGE YOUR APPLICATION below to start or resume an application.
- Save and upload all documents (essay, grade transcript, résumé) as PDFs. Please do not include your name anywhere within the essay’s content.
- Enter your reference's email address in the designated section of the application. They will receive an email from Submittable with a link to upload their reference letter in PDF format. You should ask the person writing the letter of recommendation to include their full name on the document. They must upload their letter by 11:59 p.m. MT on Monday, June 30, 2025.
START OR MANAGE YOUR APPLICATION
ESSAY CONTEST JUDGE REQUEST
Sunward seeks volunteer judges to help select winning entries for the Thrive and Rise Through Learning Essay Contest. Judges will score student essays through a secure online process. If you are a Sunward member at least 18 years of age and are not related to any of the applicants, we invite you to apply to volunteer to help choose our winners. Judges who applied in 2024 may apply with the same Submittable account username and password.
Essay judging dates
- Round 1: July 9 – 22, 2025
- Round 2: July 23 – 30, 2025
Essay judging criteria:
- How well the essay discusses the prompt and brings the applicant's story to life.
- Writing mechanics: spelling, grammar, punctuation, format, etc.
- Thought organization, clarity, and logical flow
- Originality and engagement