2019 Scholarship Program
by Maverick Label | April 04, 2019
MaverickLabel 2019 Scholarship Winners
We are pleased to announce that we have selected two outstanding students as our 2019 MaverickLabel scholarship winners. The field of applicants was amazing, but these two stood out. Congratulations to Holland Danskin (GA) and Alexa Grabelle (NJ).
Holland Danskin
Holland is an elite swimmer from Georgia. When she applied, she'd been accepted at four universities. She was waiting to hear from two others prior to making a final decision. Her essay was about her early childhood entrepreneurial project. She made and sold custom hair clips and accessories, mostly through at-home parties. She also developed a website and a Youtube video for the products.
Her essay said, in part, "I didn't get rich off the products, but it taught me that many products that are in stores are easily improved if you approach product development, the target audience, and your marketing wisely."
She went on to explain, "I think that much of that draw for me to the sport [of swimming, is that] although mostly an individual sport, there are team aspects that can make or break your moral, your motivation, and thus, your success. You set goals as an individual, yet you will rely on your teams, on occasion, to pump you up for your event. Relays are an especially close parallel with entrepreneurial situations. You might be the leader, or the anchor on the relay team. But you know that it is your responsibility to encourage your teammates to do their best."
Alexa Grabelle
Alexa is her NJ high school's 2019 class valedictorian. She will attend the University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School. In her essay, she discussed Bags of Books (BOB), a project she launched at age ten. When she was 14, she presented at a Wharton incubator program for public service projects. The Wharton students selected BOB. Since that time, Alexa has worked with many Wharton students to expand and refine the literacy service.
She noted, "As BOB president, I have worked to unite over 1,000 diverse volunteers, from elementary school students managing small collections to senior citizens attending book-sorting parties, to achieve a common goal." She explained her experience by saying, "I have partnered with a total of 90 Wharton students to propel BOB from a fledging start-up into a successful venture which has donated over 150,000 books worth $450,000 to 30,00 at-risk youth across America and four countries." [...] "Dedicating over 1,000 hours to expanding BOB by forging relationships and uniting stakeholders sparked my future career interest in business."
Congratulations to these two achievers, and best wishes to them and all our 2019 scholarship applicants.