A Free State High School senior — Lauren Thames — is competing for a chance for some financial security as she enters college.

Thames is in the final four of a March Madness-like event hosted by Zinch.com. She’s one of the finalists for a $20,000 scholarship. Students are voted on and get to advance if they get more tallies than their head-to-head competitor.

“I’m going to Baker (University), which is a private school. It’s pretty expensive,” said Thames, who will also play tennis in college and maintains a 3.8 grade-point average. “$20,000 would be a huge relief.”

Thames is senior class secretary and active in student council. To get to the competition’s final four students, Thames has gotten through state, regionals and an entire bracket of 64 to end up in the running.

“Zinch’s motto is, ‘I’m more than a test score,'” Thames said. “I think I definitely exemplify that because I’m not the smartest kid in school but I get great grades and I also am very involved outside of school.”

Thames still needs votes. Log on to zinch.com and click on the March Madness banner to see her profile and her competition. The deadline to vote is 10 a.m. today.