Congratulations to our Fall 2024 Video scholarship winner!

Cassidy Buchanan

Congratulations to Cassidy Buchanan for winning our Fall 2024 “Unboxing Your Life” Video Scholarship! We appreciate all of the great submissions from students who were willing to share their stories with us. Thank you to everyone who submitted an application this year!

A $3,000 Video Scholarship for students who refuse to live boxed-in

Sttark is excited to award a $3,000 scholarship to a U.S. high school senior, undergraduate, or graduate student who is willing to open up and unbox their life in a creative 5-minute video. Packaging is enticing–it creates an impression on the customer–but it’s the contents of a box that keep people coming back. We know there’s much more to you than meets the eye, and your presentation is just a reflection of who you are. If you were a carton or box, what would your packaging say? How would you brand yourself? And, most importantly, what story would your box contain? Show us the contents of your life that make you who you truly are.

Video Prompt
“This Is Who I Am: Unboxing My Life”

On the shelf, the folding carton or box is what first grabs attention, but the unboxing reveals a lot more about the product. The same is true with people. Packaging can promote personality, but contents reveal character and tell a story.

You’re welcome to use the following questions to help spark your creativity, but you are not required to answer them. 

● Our “packaging” encases us, but our experiences shape us. The more we see about a person, the more we understand them and their values. Have your experiences ever changed the way you present yourself? In what way and why has it changed?

● Some people prefer to leave valuable products in their packaging, unopened or barely used, out of fear that they may be lost or damaged. Sometimes people find it more comfortable to stay “boxed in.”
Can you relate? Is there a significant moment in life when you opened up? Why did you choose to open up, and what did you discover about yourself or the world when you decided not to let yourself stay boxed in? 

● Steve Jobs said, “Packaging can be theatre; it can create a story.” What does our personal packaging communicate, and is this message important? Can this presentation ever be misleading?

● No one wants to be criticized and put in a box. Have you ever been mislabeled? Were you able to change someone’s initial perception of you? Has someone ever told you they misjudged you? What was this experience like? And why do you think people are sometimes too quick to put others in a box?

Create a 5-minute unboxing video of your life that showcases your originality and unique personality.

You can shoot your video on a phone with basic editing like iMovie or as a single shot on a phone. Your submission will be judged for creativity, so keep in mind that the quality of your video matters. 

Eligibility & Requirements 

This application is open to all high school seniors, undergraduate, and graduate students. Due to complexities with international funding, we will only consider submissions from U.S. citizens.

If you are selected as the scholarship winner:

You will need to provide proof of college acceptance or a current transcript for high school students. Undergraduate and graduate students will need to provide proof of attendance from their college or university.

We’d love to know your future goals and why you deserve this scholarship, so we’re asking you to submit a brief biography of no more than 250 words with your application. In this bio, please specify your intended field of study and your current grade or degree level.

We will not assess this bio in our submission evaluation, but it will help us better understand your vision. 

We will not consider your submission if it does not include:

● A short bio with your intended field of study and education level
● Evidence of U.S. citizenship (valid US postal address)
● A 5-minute unboxing video (no shorter than 4 minutes and no longer than 6)

● Proof of education: If chosen as the scholarship winner, we will request proof of education documents before sending the funds to your school. (examples: current transcript, student ID with current year, acceptance letter)

Evaluation

Your unboxing video will be evaluated by these four criteria:

1. Originality – overall uniqueness

2. Creativity – a blend of imagination and great ideas

3. Quality – superb execution 

4. Competency – good composition and clear, engaging communication

Only submit your own work. Plagiarism is the opposite of innovation, and stolen work will be eliminated. This is your story–it’s uniquely valuable, and we want to hear it. No one can tell a story better than the one who has lived it, so stick to telling your story and no one else’s. If you do reference the work of another individual, please use a citation.

Refrain from submitting previously recorded videos if they do not align with the prompt “This Is Who I Am: Unboxing My Life.”

Application for the Video Scholarship

We’re confident your story will inspire others, and we think it’s worth sharing. But Sttark will not publish, use, or distribute any student submissions without prior written consent.

Important: When adding the shareable link to your video within the application, ensure that it is shared publicly if using a service like Google Drive or Dropbox.

Our team will need viewer access to your file to consider your submission. Please check your file share settings to ensure we have access.

For questions about your application, please email scholarship@sttark.com

Submission Deadlines 

Application Opens: November 1, 2024
Application Closes: March 1, 2025 at 11:59 p.m. EST

Winner Announced: March 18th, 2025.

The scholarship winner will be notified via email and featured on our scholarship page. Before receiving funds, the winner will be required to provide proof of acceptance to a college or university. Sttark will send all scholarship funds directly to the winner’s school.

About Sttark

We’re a creative and passionate team of experts at designing custom cartons and labels that give a product’s story the spotlight. We hope to do the same for the next batch of creators and entrepreneurs. But our purpose extends beyond the box. We believe that no matter how people are packaged, what’s inside makes each person uniquely valuable.

Giving is fundamental to our business, and we want to invest in young innovators at Sttark because we’re certain their success will lead to big ideas that bring a better future for everyone. For us, that’s an exciting possibility and a worthy investment.

Be sure to check out our About page if you’d like to learn more about Sttark.