Senior Kelsie Carmean checks the Dr. Suess website and with a triumphant grin she sees that she is still 50 votes ahead on the picture she drew for the $10,000 scholarship. As she looks at the picture, a small hint of worry hits her as she remembers people still have until March 17 to vote.

“This scholarship means a lot to me,” said Carmean. “I am kind of nervous because the people in second and third place are on my tail for votes.”

Carmean found out about the Dr. Suess “Oh the Places You’ll Go” scholarship by browsing around scholarship websites while preparing for college. The scholarship requires students to draw a picture and write an essay that reflects the theme of “Oh the Places You’ll Go”. The winner receives $10,000 to the school of their choice.

“I almost didn’t even apply for it because you had to draw a picture and I’m not much of an artist,” said Carmean.

Carmean’s artwork is entitled “Worldly Options” and her essay explains her picture. It portrays her view of current seniors who will be going out into thte world and have the potential to make a difference and help others. If she wins the money will pay for Carmean’s tuition to the University of Arkansas where she plans to study biology.

“If I don’t win I’ll be upset because I worked so hard to stay in first place but you can’t win them all,” said Carmean.

Although Carmean is nervous about losing the scholarship, she has many family, friends, and school staff members voting for her such as science teacher Mrs. Leslee Pitman.

“Oh heavens I’m glad she entered the scholarship,” said Mrs. Pitman. “I even put the URL on my whiteboard for all my students to see and vote for her!”

Mrs. Pitman has known about this scholarship since it was created three years ago and has supported Carmean for her decision to enter this competition. Mrs. Pitman strongly believes in this scholarship and highly suggests students to enter it.

“This is such a unique scholarship, you’re not just wring an essay but portraying what you think the book “Oh the Places You’ll Go” means,” said Mrs. Pitman.

Being raised by her single mother and growing up with a younger brother and sister, Carmean wants to try and help out as much as she can with paying for college by getting scholarships.

“The scholarship will help us out tremendously when trying to pay for college,” said Carmean.

The winner will be announced in April after all the votes are counted and the essays are taken into consideration. Currently Carmean remains in first place with 533 votes.

“I think this is a great scholarship and it was really fun to do. I got to show off my little artistic skills,” said Carmean. “I love Dr. Suess so I enjoyed applying for this one. Plus it wasn’t your typical scholarship!”