Show Me the Money!

Round two of writing grants begins! Well, actually, it's not really a "round" two, but more like "attempt" two. This year I'm again trying for the Hartford/BAGNC scholarship, for which I was rejected last year. Rejected. That seems like such a harsh word. Maybe there's a better word: deferred, respectfully declined for funding…What I really mean is that maybe I have been given the opportunity to build upon the my application of last year, right? (a la silver lining, bright side, etc.,)I'm one year wiser, so that should make for an even better application….unless they reject this one two. And then, maybe I'm not so wise…

How many different ways can someone say: "Please give me money??" It's not really the asking part that's hard. It's the justification. Consider the following:

-"I'm smart and I've got a lot of really, really good ideas…Really."

-"Ummm, I'm getting kind of hungry, now."

-"Please, my existence just needs some sort of external justification."

-"My advisor/school/parents/other authority figure told me I need this."

-"I thought this time through school, someone was supposed to pay me to do this….Otherwise I definitely wouldn't have considered a potential 6 more years."

-"The economy made me do it."

Surely, you'd give a bunch of money to anyone using these reasons, right?