Kick Some Ass, Get a Scholarship

England’s The Guardian reports that thriller writer Lee Child has established several scholarships named after his fictional hero Jack Reacher for students going to Sheffield University, Child’s alma mater.

I think this is the coolest thing. Not only is it incredibly generous of Child to do this, can you imagine saying “I’m going to university on a full Reacher scholarship?” Do you have to get straight As to qualify or can you just kick some bullies’ asses? Either way, you’re making the school a better place.

If you could go/could have gone to college on a scholarship named after a fictional character, who would it be? I would’ve hustled for a Wonder Woman [“I got through Ivy League via the Justice League”], James Bond [“My GPA was four-point-double 0”] or Sherlock Holmes [“Professor Moriarty from Criminology hated me”] scholarship.

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12 Comments

  • Reply
    Shelley P
    August 5, 2009 at 1:13 am

    LOL ~ I love your choices, PCN! I’d try for the Sherlock Holmes one – if Robert Downey Jr was there to bestow it on me…

  • Reply
    ARB
    August 5, 2009 at 8:07 am

    I would like the Parker Scholarship please. Parker is the incredible badass of Richard Stark’s (aka Donald Westlake) series of raw novels.
    Since he is a freelance thief, it should also come with a big bag of money. And, of course, the scholarship should be to Haaavaaard.

  • Reply
    Reader#9
    August 5, 2009 at 9:07 am

    And if you received the full Reacher Scholarship, do you have to come to college with just the clothes on your back? No personal belongings?

    Call me silly, but I would like to have been educated on the Winnie the Pooh Scholarship. Perhaps Tigger could have been a roommate.

  • Reply
    novelwhore
    August 5, 2009 at 10:22 am

    Oh I definitely would like to have had a full Scarlett O’Hara scholarship: business savvy woman who looks good while she’s outsmarting the men and overstepping boundaries!

    This is generous of Child; great publicity ploy as well.

  • Reply
    Debbie
    August 5, 2009 at 11:05 am

    I’d love to get a Doctor of Philosophy on a Siddartha Scholarship. I wouldn’t have to get all “A”s, taking the middle path with a “C” would be sublime. This would come after getting my undergrad degree from Duke on a Myron Bolitar soccer scholarship. I think Myron played basketball, but I’m better at soccer.

  • Reply
    Hayley
    August 5, 2009 at 11:26 am

    I’d love to study child psychology on a Harry Potter scholarship. I’d be promoting the message that children can overcome great adversity to become great leaders.

  • Reply
    Lenore
    August 5, 2009 at 3:06 pm

    I wish I could have had a Yoda scholarship for my English undergrad studies. That way, when I was hungover and my papers had bad syntax, my professors would have just thought I was being wise.

  • Reply
    Pop Culture Nerd
    August 5, 2009 at 8:53 pm

    Shelley P, if RDJ’s bestowing scholarships, I’d try for 9 different degrees and never leave school.

    ARB, if you had that bag of money, would you stay in school or leave the country?

    Reader#9, ha! Reacher scholars are allowed a travel toothbrush. I’d love a Pooh scholarship, especially if it comes with tubs o’ honey.

    novelwhore, good one! And the scholarship should include room & board in a white Colonial.

    Debbie, I’ll adopt that philosophy, too, if Cs are considered sublime. And I didn’t know you played soccer! (Wonder what I’d have to do to get a Win scholarship. Yikes.)

    Hayley, though the HP scholarship doesn’t exist (yet), I hope you get to accomplish your goal.

    Lenore, I should’ve used that excuse with my teachers! (Not that I was ever hungover, more like lazy.)

  • Reply
    BIZMAN5
    August 5, 2009 at 9:31 pm

    Presenting….THE GANDALF the GREY SCHOLARSHIP!!! YAY!! Betcha they give me a cool staff and a really cool robe, too.

    Yes, I am indeed immature.

  • Reply
    Corey Wilde
    August 6, 2009 at 8:23 am

    I went to the New Amsterdam School for Bartending on a Dortmunder Scholarship, but I flunked out.

  • Reply
    EIREGO
    August 6, 2009 at 3:19 pm

    How about a Frodo Scholarship (Fellowship?) to study Podiatry?

  • Reply
    Pop Culture Nerd
    August 6, 2009 at 4:19 pm

    BIZMAN5, one can never be too old for a cool staff and robe.

    Corey, ha! I hear in the Dortmunder profession, you don’t need a degree anyway.

    EIREGO, I ain’t putting my hands on hairy Hobbit feet, scholarship or no.

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