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AUSU Wants to Give You $1000 for 30 Seconds of Work

AUSU Wants to Give You $1000 for 30 Seconds of Work

If you had a chance of receiving $1000 for 30 seconds of effort, would you try for it? This is not a theoretical question. This autumn, AUSU will give $1000 to the winner of its new #Igo2AU Award. To apply for the award, all you have to do is submit either a 30-second video or a 500-word essay.

Not only is it easy to apply for the #Igo2AU award, but every student has an equal chance to receive it. Unlike most other AUSU awards, the #Igo2AU Award has minimal eligibility criteria. Applicants aren’t required to have completed a minimum number of credits, nor maintain a minimum GPA level. Applicants don’t need to be enrolled in an AU program, nor do they need to be studying full time. The only requirement is that applicants must be a member of AUSU. (In general, any student enrolled in at least one AU undergraduate course is automatically a member from the day their course begins.)

The new #Igo2AU Award was developed by AUSU to “reflect the flexibility and open nature of AU.” By avoiding any minimum credit or grade criteria for this award, AUSU has made it possible for every AU undergraduate student to qualify for an award this year.

Applicants for the #Igo2AU Award must choose to submit either a 500-word essay or a 30-second video with their application. The topic of their submission can be any one, or any combination, of the following topics:
• What makes AU unique;
• How does/has AU improve(d) your life;
• What is it about AU that fuels your passion for learning;
• Why you chose AU;
• How does AU inspire you, and/or;
• What AU means to you.

The #Igo2AU award joins AUSU’s bi-annual suite of scholarships and bursaries. Online applications now being accepted for the November 1 deadline. One award of $1000 will be available on each of the next two award deadlines, November 1, 2017 and May 1, 2018; students can only win this award once. The #Igo2AU Award is a pilot for this fiscal year. AUSU will evaluate the award in 2018 to decide whether to keep it and, if so, whether any changes are needed.

For all the details, and to apply, go to the awards application form and select the AUSU #Igo2AU Award from the drop-down list.

In addition to the new #Igo2AU award, AUSU will be giving away more awards in two other categories. Both the Balanced Student Award and the Returning Student Award will each see four awards of $1000 given out this award cycle, up from the usual two each. Similar to most AUSU awards, the Balanced Student and Returning Student Awards have minimum credit and grade requirements that applicants must meet to qualify.

For now, the #Igo2AU Award is the only award that’s as open and flexible as AU.

Barbara Lehtiniemi is a writer, photographer, and AU student. She lives on a windswept rural road in Eastern Ontario.

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