As the SevenDays 2018 movement came to a close, the organization dedicated to promoting kindness and acceptance awarded one talented singer/songwriter a $5,000 college scholarship through the Faith, Love and Song competition. This year, Blue Valley junior Ryan Jacobs was recognized for his original song “Together, Love.”

SevenDays was founded by Mindy Corporon in honor of the three lives lost on April 13th, 2014 as a result of a senseless hate crime. SevenDays strives not only to remember the light that Reat Underwood-Losen, William Corporon and Terri LaManno brought to the world, but also to focus on love and creating a positive future.  

“My family knows the Losen family very well,” Jacobs said. “When I heard about the competition and the chance to take part in such an incredible group while doing something I love, I knew I had to apply.”

To participate in the competition, songwriters must submit a song composed with lyrics that inspire others to be accepting of all types people — regardless of racial, religious or cultural differences. The purpose of the songs must be to spread kindness.

“The application process starts with [submitting] an MP3 recording of your song,” Jacobs said. “If you are selected to be in the top six, you have to make a music video for [SevenDays] to upload to YouTube. You win the competition based on how many likes your video gets.”

Jacobs is no newcomer to the world of music and was eager to share his talents with the community.

“I have grown up playing, writing and performing music, and this [competition] wasn’t the first time I’ve written something like this,” Jacobs said. “[But] it was the first competition I’ve won for [songwriting.] I had actually already written a song similar to the SevenDay’s guidelines when I spoke and performed at Relay for Life last year, so I just reworked the lyrics of that song to better fit the [Faith, Love and Song] competition and ended up turning in my old song with the new lyrics.”

Jacobs was thrilled to find out his passion moved people enough for them to vote for his song.

“It was really exciting to be recognized for all of the hard work I put into this,” Jacobs said. “To think that I might have inspired others through my song is exciting, too.”

The top three songwriters received scholarships to go towards furthering their education. Third place was awarded $1,000, 2nd place $2,400 and 1st place $5,000.

“SevenDays is a huge part of my life and I don’t think that will ever change,” Jacobs said. “The life, love and healing it’s brought our community is both [necessary] and beautiful. It has inspired me to love and accept others.”