BREAKING: $10,000 Pulse Pro-Life Scholarship Winning Essay Selected!
Lydia Parlee, Pulse Life Advocates 2026 Pro-Life Scholarship winner
PULSE Life Advocates created a $10,000 scholarship in 2025. Nominees needed to provide 3 letters of recommendation, high school transcripts, and complete an essay answering the following question: “Is it ethical for Christians to advocate for laws that restrict abortion?”
A 6-member committee reviewed 40 applications from the next generation of pro-life leaders across the nation in a 3-phase process. After phase two, 6 finalists were selected and reviewed by an additional 3-member team. A rubric for scoring Phase 1 (20 points) looked for application completeness, faith and character references, community involvement, and academic excellence. Phase 2 & 3 (24 points) assessed the essay in the areas of alignment with pro-life beliefs, accuracy and depth of reasoning, persuasiveness and logical flow, biblical integration, articulation, and authenticity.
The quality of the responses surpassed the committee’s expectations. Determining a winner was a difficult task.
PULSE Life Advocates is proud to present Lydia Parlee with the first $10,000 scholarship.
Lydia is a senior at Grand View Christian in Des Moines, Iowa, with a cumulative GPA of 4.5. Lydia has been active in sports, is a classically trained violinist, active in school and social organizations, and still finds time to volunteer and build her own photography business. She will pursue a Bachelor of Politics with a minor in Journalism at Hillsdale College.
These statements were pulled from her letters of recommendation.
“…(When she was a) ninth grader, her paper was remarkable enough to be featured in a pro-life Publication.”
“…she is one of the greatest students to ever graduate from our institution.”
“Lydia and I have had many conversations over the past few years that have demonstrated her
deep convictions for the sanctity of life, not only the unborn, but also for all human beings
made in the image of God.”
Her essay from beginning to end met the criteria set by the committee and ended with the following statement.
“It is time for Christians to decide that they care more about what God considers evil than how the world defines it, that they fear the consequences of disobeying a Holy God than of opposing a hostile culture.”
Read her full essay on the PULSE Life Advocates website.
Congratulations, Lydia Parlee!
