What Students Taught Us

Scholarship applicants wowed us with their submissions

The idea for the AED Superstore Scholarship Award started as a way to give back to the community, but it quickly evolved into a question of how we could raise awareness about sudden cardiac arrest and automated external defibrillators among high-school students.  The requirements were simple - amongst the six shocking facts of death due to SCA we posed, what did they find to be most astonishing and how would they spread awareness around the importance of deploying AED units. They could write a short essay or produce a short video.  

The response was overwhelming! Over 760 college-bound seniors from across the country submitted personal stories, videos, innovative ideas and most expressed gratitude for not only the opportunity to win $1000, but also for opening their eyes to these topics.

One of the most unique video submissions was from Autumn, a high school senior from Flower Mound, Texas, who will attend Duke University in the fall of 2016.  Autumn expressed her shock at learning “16 people under the age of 18 die of sudden cardiac arrest each day.”  Then, instead of describing how she would recommend we spread awareness, she showed us what she did to educate her classmates and her community. This ambitious young woman certainly took initiative and AED Superstore is proud to present her with the $1000 scholarship.  Watch her award winning video here.

The results of tapping into a group of young, ambitious college-aged students speak for themselves. Imagine what else can be learned (and taught) by asking an open-ended question, offering a small incentive and allowing freedom to think and operate.

This experience begs the question, “does a scholarship opportunity merely help the student or does the world benefit from knowledge shared and learned from the scholarship opportunity?”

When we began the scholarship process, we thought we were going to inspire someone young who needed an extra hand with college tuition. We left feeling inspired by the leaders who applied and taught us all something new.  As the next round of applicants submit their essays and videos, we look forward to seeing how much further this circle of awareness can reach.