Nick Bales started his clothing brand Brought to Reality (BTR) while he was a sophomore at Arapahoe High School. Nick suffered from anxiety and depression, and focusing on BTR enabled him to be creative, keep busy, and stay grounded in reality. Through his brand, Nick sought to bring awareness to teen mental health and to end the stigma surrounding mental illness. Most importantly, Nick strived to encourage compassion among his peers. In his college essay, Nick wrote: “We should all help each other get through the difficult times.” Unfortunately, Nick did not have the opportunity to apply to college because he lost his battle against mental illness on September 29, 2018.
The Nick Bales BTR Scholarship was created to continue Nick’s mission of fostering kindness and compassion. BTR enables us to keep Nick’s spirit alive and to hopefully prevent teen suicide. BTR is a movement: If you wear BTR, you either struggle with mental wellness, know someone who does, or want to help those that do. Nick was determined to erase the stigma of mental illness because no one should ever feel alone or suffer in silence. Most importantly, no one should ever feel the pain that Nick felt. When Nick created BTR, he planted the seeds. Help those seeds grow and blossom by showing your kindness and compassion.
HOW TO APPLY: Create a Two Minute Video that illustrates your kindness and compassion, as well as your ability to lift others up and put them before yourself. While your video should reveal something you are passionate about, you do not need to be the video’s main focus or subject.
The scholarship is open to all Arapahoe High School Seniors who will be attending college in 2021-22. There is no essay or written assignment. And there is no need to submit your GPA or financial information because this scholarship is not based on grades or need. The successful applicant will be someone who exudes the BTR spirit.
HOW TO SUBMIT: Please submit your video, along with your contact information, to The Nick Bales / BTR Foundation using this Dropbox link: https://tinyurl.com/qr53395. Upon submission, all videos become the property of The Nick Bales / BTR Foundation and may be posted on its website, social media, or other public forum.
