Student at NDSU receives a $100,000 scholarship

Bismarck, North Dakota – One college freshman in Minnesota has approximately 100,000 reasons to be thankful this year. The holidays are a time of reflection for some people, and one of those people has about 100,000 reasons to be thankful this year.

You might be familiar with the stories of the Immaculate Conception and the Miracle of Minneapolis. Gavin Kestner, a freshman at Minnesota State University, places equal value on both the opportunity and the pass. To be precise, it’s worth $100,000. However, his story begins in a place where a lot of first-year college students find themselves.

“I was just kind of stressing out like anyone else about financial stuff for college and wondering how I’m going to pay for it. I just googled it online, ‘Scholarships anyone can apply for,’” said Gavin.

The first thing he had to do was send in a video on TikTok detailing the reasons he wants to be considered for the Dr. Pepper Tuition Giveaway. In his application video, he was able to stand out from the other candidates’ thanks to his experience as a photographer.

Gavin was chosen as a finalist for the competition to take place during halftime of the ACC Conference Championship game, which was held in North Carolina. The other finalist was another contestant. Within a thirty-second time limit, they were tasked with fitting as many footballs as they could into a jumbo-sized bottle of Dr. Pepper. Gavin began the competition in the first place but eventually fell further and further behind. For him, the challenge was as nerve-wracking as any championship game could possibly be.

“I don’t know something clicked in my head, and then I started making some in a row after that and then I eventually took the lead back again,” said Gavin.

As part of the Dr. Pepper Tuition Giveaway, Gavin was awarded the sum of $100,000. He has stated that he intends to make the transition to NDSU in order to earn a degree in computer science and cyber security. He claims that he will be able to concentrate on his education and may even look into pursuing additional education to earn a master’s degree as a result of receiving this scholarship. Since 2008, students have been awarded more than $13 million worth of tuition funding thanks to this scholarship from Dr. Pepper.