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Essay Scholarship

$2,500+ Available to One Winner

Write an essay that discusses one (or more) of the following:
  • the separation of church and state,
  • being good without religion,
  • living in a secular society,
  • Christian nationalism, or
  • religious bigotry.
Available to public high school and college students in California.
Also check out about our other scholarships.

About the 2024 Nickelson Family Essay Scholarship

The Nickelson Family has entrusted California Freethought Day to facilitate a scholarship, in their name, for public high school and college students in California.
They will award a minimum of $2,500 to a student who writes an essay, between 300-700 words, discussing one (or more) of the following:
  • the separation of church and state,
  • being good without religion,
  • living in a secular society,
  • Christian nationalism, or
  • religious bigotry.
Entries must be submitted by June 30, 11:59 p.m. PDT, of the current year to qualify.

Who are we Looking For?

To be eligible, an applicant must:
  • have an interest in free speech, science, and the separation of church and state; and
  • in May of the current year, attended a California public high school or college (any level); and
  • plan to pursue (or currently pursuing) postsecondary education at a community college, four-year college, trade school, or vocational school.
If this sounds like you, you should apply!

How to Apply

After writing your essay, you may click here to apply for our scholarship. You will need to paste your essay into our entry form.

Judging

Shortly after the deadline, members of the Nickelson Family will review the submissions. They will select the scholarship winners based on the originality, creativity, and quality of the submitted work.

Winning

We’ll notify the winner in July.
The winner, and their family, will be invited (but not required) to attend California Freethought Day in October, held in Sacramento. We may also ask the winner to record a video reciting and reflecting upon their winning work for our use in social media and at events.

Additional Rules and Conditions

In addition to the text above, the following rules and conditions apply.
Current Board members, Committee members, agents of California Freethought Day, members of the Nickelson Family, and their immediate family members (defined as spouse, parents, siblings, and children) are not eligible to win.
Limit one (1) submission per person.
Responses that are obscene, pornographic, defamatory, or otherwise objectionable will be disqualified.
All applications and submissions become the property of California Freethought Day and will not be returned.
California Freethought Day assumes no responsibility for lost, late, misdirected, or unintelligible entries.
All submissions must consist of entirely original material and no portion may be generated through the use of artificial intelligence.
Should the winner decide to attend any California Freethought Day event, the winner will be responsible for travel and lodging expenses and must abide by our Code of Conduct.
The winner will receive a check to be used toward their postsecondary education expenses. The winner will be issued an IRS Form 1099-MISC stating their winnings.
The judges’ decision is final.
By submitting an application and submission, applicant (or, if a minor, their parent or legal guardian) agrees that California Freethought Day may, without any limitation or further compensation or notice, use their name, voice and/or likeness in any and all media, worldwide, for the purpose of advertising and promoting the website, California Freethought Day, the scholarship program, or any other promotion, contest, or sweepstakes of California Freethought Day.
The name of the scholarship prize recipient and their winning submission may be posted on any or all of California Freethought Day’s websites and social media channels.
By submitting an application and submission, applicant (or, if a minor, their parent or legal guardian) grants to California Freethought Day a worldwide perpetual non-exclusive license to use, reproduce, distribute and exploit the material submitted, including the worldwide copyright and any extensions, renewals, revivals, reversions and restorations thereof, for any educational, promotional, or other purpose. Applicant further agrees that California Freethought Day and its designees may edit and modify the submission and all elements of it in any and all media now known or not currently known, throughout the world in perpetuity without compensation, permission, or notification to applicant or any third party. Notwithstanding the foregoing, applicant shall be entitled to terminate the license granted to California Freethought Day hereunder upon written notice to California Freethought Day after a period of five years from the date applicant submits the application and submission.
Each person who enters this scholarship program represents and warrants to California Freethought Day as follows: (i) the application and submission, including any written content, are the applicant’s own original, previously unpublished, and previously unproduced work; (ii) the application and submission, including any written content, neither infringes upon nor violates the intellectual property rights or other rights of any other person or entity; (iii) the application and submission, including any written content, does not and will not violate any applicable laws, and meets the official rules set forth herein. Each applicant hereby agrees to indemnify and hold California Freethought Day harmless from and against any and all third party claims, actions, or proceedings of any kind and from any and all damages, liabilities, costs, and expenses relating to or arising out of any breach or alleged breach of any of the warranties, representations or agreements of applicant hereunder.
California Freethought Day shall have no obligation (express or implied) to use any winning submission, or to otherwise exploit a winning submission or continue the development, production, distribution, or exploitation thereof, and California Freethought Day may at any time abandon the use of the winning submission for any reason, with or without legal justification or excuse, and the scholarship prize recipients shall not be entitled to any damages or other relief by reason thereof.
By submitting, you fully and unconditionally accept and agree to these official rules and the decisions of California Freethought Day, which are final and binding.

For More Information, Contact, and Questions

Questions regarding the scholarship can be directed to scholarships@FreethoughtDay.org.

Recognition

We would like to recognize Scholarship Impact for their assistance with this scholarship and the Nickelson Family for their generosity.