Thank you

The results for the 3rd Annual Blogging Scholarship are in, and, I'm sad to say, I did not win. I came in 5th, and the winners were The Burnt Orange Report, USS Mariner, and American Papist.

I must admit that I am little disappointed, but as I have said before, I wasn't expecting to win. It's not all bad, though. For making it to the final 20, I received $100, but what I am more grateful for is the support of my readers, friends, and fellow bloggers. By the end I racked up about 2,100 votes, which was far more than most of my competitors received.

More importantly, I appreciate everyone who linked to the voting page and asked their readers to vote for me. I was a bit overwhelmed by the response of many of my favorite bloggers, and I was very humbled by many of the comments that were contained in their endorsements.

Thank you to everyone who helped me. I may not have won the big prize, but I think that the support of my fellow science bloggers is a much more valuable thing.

[Post-script; During this contest, a few people have asked if they could collect donations for me to help pay down my college debt. I truly appreciate the sentiment, but I do not feel comfortable taking such donations; there are better causes to contribute to. If anyone really feels compelled to do something, there's always my Amazon.com wishlist. The books I read heavily influence what I write here, and new volumes are a more direct investment in my self-education and in the content that appears on this blog. Thank you, though, to everyone who has offered to help me.]