Magic: The Scholarship

“Friends and parents had told me to look for scholarships in everything,” Mr. Johnson, 18, recalled. “But I was surprised that there is a scholarship just for Magic players.”

Last year, Mr. Johnson received one of the first two grants given by Gamers Helping Gamers, a nonprofit organization founded by a group of successful young New Yorkers to assist a very specific group of students: those who play the fantasy trading card game Magic: The Gathering.

When I was in high school, my parents encouraged me to apply to every scholarship I was eligible for, and the ones I did get were from small organizations, like the Asian American Scholarship Fund. If I had known about a scholarship for young “Magic: The Gathering” players, I would have been all over it.

Photo: Andrés Aguiluz Rios

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