An expensive lesson: I lost the scholarship and had no one to blame but myself.(MY LIFE ON CAMPUS)

It was finally here! I clicked on the e-mail from my admissions counselor and waited while the message loaded. I'd applied for a $5,000 leadership scholarship from the college I'd chosen, and I was expecting to hear good news.

My high school years had been devoted to church ministry and school leadership positions, and I was pretty confident that my hard work and dedication would literally pay off.

The message appeared, but it wasn't what I expected: "Thank you for applying for our leadership scholarship. Unfortunately, you were not among those chosen."

"What?" I shouted, feeling tears rush to my eyes. "This must be a mistake!"

As I read …