Maddy Galbreath, Future Lawyer and Scholarship Winner

Worthy Competition

As a longtime participant in academic tournaments and the middle child of her family, Maddy Galbreath is no stranger to competition. Her drive to beat the odds has led her to study history in undergrad as her first step towards law school; with Scholarships.com’s help, she’s won over $150,000 to fund her higher education.

Galbreath discovered the Academic Games Leagues of America (AGLOA) through an enrichment group in elementary school. AGLOA’s historical trivia games soon became a passion that still follows Galbreath today.

“One of [the games] was called Presidents, so I learned all about the American presidents,” she said. “That’s my favorite niche in history.”

By the time she entered high school, Galbreath was competing in AGLOA games all across the U.S.; she filled much of her free time honing the skills needed to ace the games, from memorizing presidential trivia to learning propaganda techniques and identifying them in the media.

“To get to the national level required lots of studying, lots of practice, and a drive to do it,” said Galbreath. And this was not her only pursuit that required an intensive practice schedule. Galbreath was a devoted athlete in high school, participating in both the boys’ and girls’ golf team, the girls’ tennis team, and the Special Olympics’ Unified Bocce team– the latter of which played on a statewide level.

“I’m a competitive person naturally, so I found it easy to get into competition mode and compete with other people,” Galbreath explained. The same was true of her scholarship application process, which she began as a high school junior.

“When I got rejected from a scholarship, I knew that I could go back to Scholarships.com and find another one,” said Galbreath.

“[My family] didn’t have the financial means to afford college,” she said. “I knew a lot of scholarships catered to seniors in high school, but because I was pretty desperate for financial help, I wanted to start as early as I could.”

Galbreath discovered Scholarships.com at the very beginning of her senior year. She made a free profile and the site matched her with awards tailored to her demographics.

“It’s very overwhelming to figure out where to start or what direction to go in, and Scholarships.com took a big burden off of me in that way,” she said. With a list of all the awards for which she was eligible delivered to her email inbox each week, Galbreath could spend her time focusing on her athletic involvement and AGLOA games rather than searching endlessly for new scholarships to apply to.

“When I got rejected from a scholarship, I knew that I could go back to Scholarships.com and find another one,” said Galbreath. “Every time I received a rejection, I’d apply for another 2 scholarships, because rejection can be redirection; that’s what I took it as.”

“It’s very overwhelming to figure out where to start or what direction to go in, and Scholarships.com took a big burden off of me in that way,” said Galbreath.

As her high school graduation approached, scholarship acceptances began to trickle into Galbreath’s inbox– a great relief, given the uncertainty of her financial situation prior to that point. Overall, with Scholarships.com’s help, she earned over $150,000 to fund her dream of becoming a lawyer.

“The amount didn’t even matter. If it was $500 or $20,000, it was something,” Galbreath said. “Winning kept me motivated to keep going.”

Now, Galbreath is thriving debt-free in her undergraduate history program as she prepares for law school. Her success has come with access to a network of professional mentors to help guide her along in her career. The most rewarding part of the awards, though? Certainty.

“I struggled with not knowing if I could do it; I struggled with self-doubt and confidence in my story and my writing ability,” she said. For all her competitive drive, her success has proven to Galbreath that she is worth her wins.

“I know it’s intimidating, but just go for it,” Galbreath advised other students looking to fund their higher education. “And really, use Scholarships.com!”