Back in the mid-1990s, our son, Ben, was a teenager attending South Eugene High School in Eugene, Oregon.  As he was still a few years away from becoming Scholarship Coach Ben Kaplan, seeking out college funding was something totally new to all of us.

So when Ben applied for his first scholarship award, we probably felt similar to the way many of you feel right now: We encouraged him to apply and did whatever we could to help, but we really didn't expect a whole lot to come from it.

When the scholarship checks did start rolling in, it was a wonderful surprise.  The biggest shock, however, had nothing to do with all the money. It was something more important: the dramatic, even life-changing transformation we witnessed in our son.

You see, because of the personal nature of scholarship applications, just filling out these forms forced him to think about his strengths, to confront his weaknesses, and, most importantly, to dream about his future.

In short, entering scholarship contests forced him to discover who he really was, and to begin developing a plan to fully realize his talents and passions. Not that this plan can't or won’t change. Indeed, as any grown-up knows, it will change many times during the course of a lifetime.

But it was this underlying sense of purpose and progress that led to Ben's many other successes, and that, most importantly, led him to discover the things that would make him most happy. The result was a gradual transformation in our son, as he took increasing control over his own destiny. This has been very inspiring for us, and has even influenced our own life decisions.

There are, of course, many other benefits to applying for scholarships--such things as enhanced writing skills, heightened self-promotional abilities, and substantially improved college applications (which dramatically increases the likelihood that your son or daughter will be admitted to the college of his or her choice).

But these things paled in comparison to our son's personal growth. We also grew as a family through the transformational process of working together toward a common goal. The camaraderie of the quest has resulted in the forging of close ties--bonds that, we believe, supersede the expected parent-child relationship.

Even when the scholarship money is used up, and the memories of award ceremonies become cloudy, these bonds live on.