That hidden talent of duck-calling can finally serve a more practical purpose than just a desperate conversation starter at a party – it can pay for tuition. The Chick and Sophie Major Memorial Duck Calling Contest is just one of the dozens of strange, but real scholarships and contests out there offered to students with usual talents, backgrounds and characteristics.

“A lot of times, there are private donors out there who have money to offer to students and they want to offer scholarships to students who are just like them when they were trying to go to school,” Kahea Kamahele, scholarship technician of financial aid and scholarships, said.

Other unusual scholarships include the one offered by the Tall Clubs International for students who are taller than average.

To qualify, all applicants have to be younger than 21 years old while men have to be 6’2″ or taller and women have to be 5’10” or taller. To start, students have to go on the club website to find a TCI member closest to them and have that member be a sponsor for the scholarship. Then each local club selects one candidate and submits his or her name to the TCI Alternate Executive Club for the final consideration.

Another strange example is the scholarship for left-handed students offered by the Juniata College in Huntington, PA each year for up to $1,000. However, the scholarship is only available for students of Juniata College.

As for contests, there is the Stuck on Prom Contest sponsored, by the Duck Brand Duct Tape for high school seniors who want to win a $5,000 scholarship. All the students have to do is attend prom with a date wearing complete attires made out of duct tape and then submit pictures of their outfits along with the entry forms to compete for the award. One unusual example that is currently being advertised through the scholarship office at EC is the scholarship for twins or mothers of twins.

It is a scholarship offered by the Southern California Mothers of Multiples Inc. Requirements are that applicants must be of multiple birth or a mother of multiple with no affiliation with Southern California Mothers of Multiples Inc.

“It’s a little strange, but it’s just who ever wants to give money to people. It’s just more free money so it’s not a bad thing,” Lucy Bui, kinesiology major, said about the twins scholarship. “But they should have scholarships for people who really need it. Like people who have low income and good grades. Getting a scholarship for being a twin doesn’t really require much work.”

Although the some of the scholarships sound absurd and it seems as if the students are awarded them only by default, most scholarships are selective of their candidates and do care who gets the award.

No matter what the scholarships are, not only do the students have to possess whatever the strange quality is, they usually are judged and awarded based on certain criteria such as academic achievement, educational background, personal essays, recommendation letters and educational plans also.

Not sending the scholarship offers to the schools and only advertising online or through exclusive club members are ways to limit applicants and to make sure students who are awarded the money deserve it.

“Sending it directly through the school makes it too easy.” Kamahele said. “They want to limit the competition to those students that are ambitious about going to school, so you have to do your own research.”

To find a suitable scholarship, interested students can go to the scholarship office on campus to find various scholarship opportunities ranging from the general requirements of academic achievements, essays and financial needs to the strange-but-real scholarships for students with the best apple pie recipes and for students involved in parapsychology.

To search online for scholarships and contests, interested students may go to websites such as www.scholarships.com, www.fastweb.com, and other scholarship websites that can easily be found through search engines. With some patience and luck, students will find that the very things they might’ve been teased about since they were younger may end up being assets after all.

“I think that recognizing differences and offering scholarships for that is great because it’s embracing and recognizing diversity,” Kamahele said.