Project Raven: The Opportunist

Of my decommissioned projects, this was possibly the most questionable. While not illegal, it is morally questionable and if you don't like the idea of me taking advantage of individuals who probably need the money more than I do then you should stop reading.

Though in my defense, if these people wanted this money, they should have been more motivated to go and get it. But others would argue that these people aren't exactly in the greatest position to get said money.

I'd feel bad, if I wasn't in debt.

Before we get any further, what exactly am I trying to exploit? Scholarships. Free money for you to continue doing well in school. Sounds fairly legitimate. But despite there being hundreds if not thousands of scholarships out there, there's quite a bit of competition, especially for the more prestigious ones.

My marks are decent, but nowhere near stellar enough for anything worth putting on a resume or CV. And after hearing a few success stories from fellow classmates obtaining scholarship money they should NOT have successfully obtained, I began to wonder if I could replicate these results.

And from who? Native Americans. Or Aboriginals. Or First Nations people. You know who I'm talking about.

I can sense my followers questioning my sanity already.

The idea came into my head when a friend of mine mentioned a joke that was played on him in High school. Someone had signed him up for an Aboriginal scholarship, filled out the appropriate information and sent it in.

A few months later, my friend had received $5000, for a scholarship only worth $1000. My friend, being the honest individual he was, called the association to inquire about this unexpected money and return it. He certainly didn't qualify, he's 100% Caucasian and lived in the United States for a number of years (remember, this story takes place in Canada).

The Native American association insisted that he keep the money. All of it. Why? No one had applied for the scholarship for YEARS. In fact, they were accumulating so much of this scholarship money that they were starting to get taxed for it. So they were willing to give it out to whoever applied, regardless of who they were.

Well if you insist...

Fine. One instance of this event. Unlikely to ever happen again. Except later when I encountered another group of peers who had done the same thing. Again, Caucasian males, who successfully applied for Aboriginal scholarships. What made them special? These were scholarships for WOMEN.

Let that sink in for a moment.

This is how desperate these people were to get rid of this money. Because no one had applied to these, for ages, that anyone who so much as sent in an application was an eligible individual. There is no risk involved. The worst that happens is someone you don't know, rolls their eyes at this invalid application and moves on.

At best, you clear thousands of dollars of debt with 10 minutes of work.

Moral dilemma.

Some people would say this is a statement on the current status of Aboriginal peoples in Canada. True. I would also argue that this a statement on the status of many students in Canada, who when presented with mass amount of debt, will consider unscrupulous ways to pay it off.

But unfortunately, I'm no longer a student. I have a full-time job now, with steady paycheques rolling in, and I'm removing my debt honestly.

Would I have tried if I were still going to school? Yes. I would have. And for anyone out there who wants to try, I'm certain there are similar associations who barely get applicants.

Let me know your results.