Back in 2005, a group of awesome people and myself founded Pocono Commuter, Inc., a non-profit that supported the growing commuter population, helping them find friends and support during the economic boom that offered home ownership via extreme commutes to NY and NJ, and winding down after the real estate crisis forced many commuters to leave the region.
We had a commitment to award money in the Pocono Commuter Scholarship Fund to a high school senior who resides in Monroe County, Pennsylvania. Various issues delayed this from taking place, but I’m thrilled I can now award this money as promised. Pocono Commuter had a great run, and we helped so many people, but it’s time to move on and close out the scholarship fund to a deserving winner.
The rules and regulations are listed below. Please read and follow very carefully to avoid disqualification. Note, we reserve the right to adjust rules at any time without notice.
1.Scholarship Eligibility:
- Must be a legal, full-time resident of Monroe County, PA
- Are in their senior year of High School (charter schools/home-schoolers included)
- Complete a 1 – 3k word short story in either the science fiction or fantasy genres
- Submit their story per below instructions on or before midnight of the deadline date, April 30, 2017
- Failure to adhere to the above rules will automatically disqualify the applicant from consideration.
- By submitting your story for application, you are granting permission for your story to be published online in full or in part, whether you win or not.
2. Submission Instructions (Read carefully!):
- Short story must be emailed as an attachment in either .doc/.docx or .pdf format
- Short story must be emailed to scholarship@waynemeyers.com with the subject “Scholarship Submission”
- Submission email body must contain a brief introduction/bio, why you are interested in writing, and your full contact information including address and phone #, and school district.
3. Winner Details:
- Scholarship awarded shall be in the form of a check made payable to the College or University the winner indicates they are attending.
- Check must be cashed by College or University before end of 2017; award may not be carried over to another year.
- Winner must provide proof of residence in the form of a valid PA driver’s license, State issued ID, or Monroe County, PA based school ID.
- Winner must provide a copy of their High School transcript to prove they are graduating seniors (an unofficial copy is fine.)
- Failure to satisfy any of the above conditions may result in the scholarship award going to the first runner up.
- Award amount will be $1,200
- Judges decisions are final and binding.
4. Runners Up:
- The top 3 stories, after the Winner is selected, will receive honorable mention, and a critique from one of the judges.
5. Judges: We are extremely fortunate to have an impressive committee of Judges, who are excited to encourage new talent!
- Gabriela Pereira, founder of DIYMFA.com and author of DIY MFA: WRITE WITH FOCUS, READ WITH PURPOSE, BUILD YOUR COMMUNITY (Writer’s Digest Books, 2016)
- Lee Diogeneia, http://www.diogeneia.com/, professional editor, author, and NASA Knowledge Specialist
- Jordy Albert, Literary Agent and Co-Founder of The Booker Albert Literary Agency, http://jordyalbert.blogspot.com/
- The three literary agents responsible for the prestigious Virginia Kidd Agency, Inc., one of the longest established science fiction specialized literary agencies in the world, http://www.vk-agency.com/
- Wayne Meyers, author of Visitor, a science fiction novel.
6. Timeline
- Stories due on or before midnight, April 30, 2017
- Winner announced by June 30th
Wayne Meyers
Judging is almost done! Winner to be announced before end of June–stand by!
Wayne Meyers
We have our winner, and they have been notified! Further details to be released in a new post within the next few days.
For those who did not win, understand it was a close contest, and you all did an excellent job. Thank you for participating, and I hope you will continue to write. Don’t hesitate to reach out to me for advice in the future.
Best wishes to you all.