In high school instead of getting a summer job I would work on my science fair project once I learned they give out cash prizes called 'scholarships'. 3 years

In high school instead of getting a summer job I would work on my science fair project once I learned they give out cash prizes called 'scholarships'. 3 years in a row I won first or second place in the State Science fair, and usually about $500 to $1000 in 'scholarship' money. The kicker was my senior year, when I won 'runner up' for a $10,000 scholarship to the college I had already been accepted to. I found the guy who won and was thrilled he was undecided about which school he was going to. I got his number and talked about the pro's and con's of that school as unbiased as possible, and later that week he called me to tell me he wasn't going. So I would then get the scholarship. I'm pretty sure it was the Science fairs (and robot, but that's another story) that got me into college, since my high school GPA was 2.8 and I got a 410 in my verbal SAT.