Sophomore wins $10,000 scholarship for blog about travels through United States and three countries

University of Richmond sophomore John McAuliff of Irvington, N.Y., has won the 2011 College Blogging Scholarship, a $10,000 prize awarded by CollegeScholarships.org to the best college blog of the year.

Winning the scholarship with more than 10,000 votes from readers and supporters, McAuliff took 24 percent of the more than 50,000 votes cast, scraping past the second place blogger by 2 percent in the 15 days of voting.

“I was thrilled to see votes coming in from readers in Southeast Asia, New Zealand, England, Australia and almost 20 other countries. It’s amazing how fast things can spread, and the support I received from friends and family at Richmond, at home and abroad was incredible.” McAuliff said.

His blog, “Road Trip of Passage,” chronicled the sophomore’s solo summer travels through 35 states and three countries. With the 50,000-word blog, McAuliff said he “hoped to show that success is not solely about grades and degrees, but really about personal development.”

CollegeScholarships.org, is a nonprofit organization that helps students navigate the increasingly complicated sphere of online scholarship searching. It also gives awards for web design, tweeting and political blogging.

McAuliff writes a weekly column for USA Today’s College section, focusing on college life, travel, leadership and politics. His writing about the 9/11 generation has been featured in The Providence Journal and USA Today College, and his complete portfolio can be found at his website (http://www.johnmcauliff.com).

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