Sean Bishop hadn't really thought about branching out with his music until a professor at Weber State University told him to stick his neck out.

"I had just gotten out of a class where the professor told us to apply for everything, because you never know what opportunities you'll get," he said. "So I just took the application, filled it out, threw my CD in an envelope and got in just under the deadline."

Bishop's original song, "The Real Me," won him third place in a national competition, resulting in a $2,500 John Lennon Scholarship from Broadcast Music, Inc.

When he was informed of the prize, Bishop was more than excited, and said he "jumped up and down and screamed a little."

Catherine Zublin, associate dean of the Telitha E. Lindquist College of Arts and Humanities, said students are encouraged to be adventurous with their productions and original works.

The scholarship contest, a program that recognizes the best and brightest young songwriters between the ages of 15 and 24, recognized six American songwriters and awarded them with prizes up to $10,000. Bishop's song tied for third place with a separate team of writers. They were among thousands of students, representing every state in the country, to enter the annual competition which was started by Yoko Ono in 1997.

According to BMI, more than $225,000 has been awarded over the last 11 years to students from select colleges, universities and music schools, and from national submissions from the National Association of Music Education/MENC chapters.

"(My) song is about being an anxious teenager and not knowing who your real friends are," he said. "It's all about self-exploration."

The winning song is one of many that Bishop, a musical theatre major at Weber, has written. "I've been writing music since I was 13," he said. "I have a whole notebook full of lyrics that probably has 150 to 200 songs total."

Bishop plans to complete his degree next year and hopes that the recent competition will further his career opportunities in musical theater or as a recording artist.

"BMI has talked about doing a compilation CD with the music down the road, and they give you a lot of exposure," he said. "It's cool to know that my song is being passed around BMI, and a lot of people listened to it and obviously liked it."

"The Real Me" can be heard on Bishop's MySpace music channel at myspace.com/seanbishopmusic.