Hannah had always dreamed of becoming a commercial airline pilot. The Virginia native and student was studying marketing at Virginia Tech when she decided she wanted to go to flight school instead to pursue her dream.

But she had another reason to go. She knew that her career path was predominately pursued by men, and she felt she would be encouraging other women to break into the field if she could do it herself. But she needed tuition help to do it. 

Dr Pepper created a Tuition Giveaway to meet the needs of Hannah and so many more, and so Hannah sent in a video application that featured clay figures and stop-motion animation to tell her story.

“If you help me pay my tuition, I promise I’ll make you proud,” she said. 

Each year, as part of Dr Pepper’s Tuition Giveaway contest, students are asked to submit 60-second videos explaining how they hope to impact the world using funding for education. On the NCAA College Football Conference Championship weekend, 20 students are chosen to compete during the halftimes of five championship games. The contestants throw footballs into oversized cans of Dr Pepper and winners each receive $100,000 in tuition assistance, while second-place finishers receive $25,000.

Hannah was chosen to compete and won $25,000 for her second-place finish. The prize money will ultimately help her reach her goal of becoming a pilot. 

Tyler, a West Virginia University law student who competed in the contest, said he hoped to harness the powers of the judiciary and public policy to combat the opioid epidemic, which he said affected his own family and friends.

“I have prayed for a significant financial opportunity, and Dr Pepper has provided just that,” Tyler stated in his video submission. “With this scholarship opportunity, I will be able to obtain my Juris Doctorate, and hopefully be able to inspire and support those in a situation similar to mine.”  

Meanwhile, Jazlyn, an undergraduate student at Texas Christian University, said the tuition opportunity would help her conquer generational poverty through tools like financial literacy.

“I want to help those in low-income communities understand that they can break this commonality amongst minorities,” Jazlyn said.

Tyler and Jazlyn were two of the five $100,000 winners during the 2020 Conference Championship weekend.

The gift of an education for these finalists is an investment in students poised to change the world. 

Read more stories from finalists including Hannah, Tyler, Jazlyn and others here.