Curious how the Wheel of Fortune is related to scholarships?  Here's the story:  I met a woman from New York, Ms. B., who likes to play poker.  She understands the odds of winning at card games and she likes to test her odds in new and interesting ways, such as auditioning for Wheel of Fortune. 

Ms. B. knew that she would be a good contestant since she had been playing the word-game "hangman" since she was five years old.  She was also an avid reader and words were her business.  However, Ms. B. knew that to make it on the show she had to give them what they wanted.  A cheerful, clean cut specimen of a contestant.  Most often, she dressed in black and had long, wild hair. That image had to go.

Ms. B.  studied Wheel of Fortune shows and she was beginning to develop a picture of the type of contestant who appeared on Wheel of Fortune.  She developed some simple rules:  no low-cut shirts (remember you have to bend over the wheel for your spin), no frowning or odd facial expressions (must look happy), no crazy hair, no logos on your clothing, etc.  She also knew not to wear black or white clothes because that does not show up well on camera.  She bought a dress for the first ime in years because most female contestants wore dresses or skirts (this was a long time ago).

Confident in her research she went to the auditions, dressed appropriately, and made it through to the next round (sound familiar). After several tests of her wordsmith abilities, she made it down to the final round of auditions.  She was very nervous as her plus-sized body was in her new dress and her competition was a thin, attractive woman who was also very intelligent.  Ms. B. thought the Wheel of Fortune staff would pick the attractive woman because she would look better on TV, then, the other woman did something incredibly, unbelievably dumb.  When the producers asked her why she wanted to be on the show she said, "Cause I love to GAMBLE!"  That was the kiss of death for her.  While we all know that game shows are similar to gambling, they want to maintain the illusion of wholesomeness and that woman didn't do her research or didn't understand that!

So, what's the scholarship connection?  Know who your audience is and make sure you are a good match.  Ms. B. knew that she was a word expert and knew that she would make a great contestant.  She also did her research to learn more about the organization (Wheel of Fortune) so she could speak intelligently and credibly when it came to the interview.  Lastly, her competition obviously didn't know that you shouldn't say "I love gambling," to the producers of Wheel of Fortune.  The end.