Being a second-semester junior in college feels like standing at a crossroads — half looking back, half looking ahead.
This is typically the semester when most of your friends have found an internship for the upcoming summer, with some even cementing their plans for what’s next after their college days. It also is a time when two and a half years of your life has gone by in the blink of an eye and you realize that soon a new journey will await. For some this realization may be unsettling or even scary – and while yes I have had both of those feelings over the past month – it has also allowed me the opportunity to reflect on my path to where I am today, while also realizing how the Lilly Endowment Community Scholarship (LECSP) has provided me with more than an education.
Just over three years ago, I was a senior at Riley High School in South Bend, receiving the news of a lifetime – I was one of four students selected to receive the 2023 Lilly Endowment Community Scholarship for St. Joseph County. The news, which came via email, was undoubtedly the best Christmas present that I received that winter.
At the time I found out that I had become a Lilly Scholar, I was still in the process of discerning where I wanted to spend the next four years. To say that the LECSP opened up even more doors, would be a gross understatement. Simply, it changed my life.
As National College Decision Day rapidly approached, I was still unsure of where I thought I would call my collegiate home. Going into my senior year of high school, the University of Notre Dame had been my dream school, but I was never sure if that dream would be able to become a reality. Thanks to the scholarship, it did.
After I made my college decision, I assumed that my involvement with the scholarship would be limited to once or twice a year when it came time to submit any necessary forms to my community foundation and Independent Colleges of Indiana. This assumption would quickly be proven wrong.
Within the first month of college, I began to realize that the scholarship provided me with more than just the opportunity to attend my dream school. What it provided was the opportunity to meet a cohort of like-minded people dedicated to giving back to their communities and the state of Indiana through service. The first of these opportunities was Notre Dame LSN Welcome Ice Cream Social, where I got to meet other ND Lilly Scholars like Saige Terwiske and Jayden Meredith who have a deep care for the communities that they call home. From both Saige and Jayden I was able to see campus in a different and more complete way – as Saige studies architecture and Jayden lives on the other side of campus. ND LSN provided me with new relationships where I would not have had the opportunity to otherwise. Moreover, meeting these Scholars showed me the power that a community dedicated towards the common good can have when they work together.
While the 18-year old version of myself may not have realized it then, the scholarship was helping me create new paths that I could have never imagined where I could see the bigger impact I could have on the place I call home. This has occurred to me at statewide events, such as Lilly Scholars Launch through the panel where I learned firsthand the power that being a force for change can have on not only on the people around you but also yourself.
It has also provided me with the opportunity to see different parts of the state and create meaningful relationships I otherwise wouldn’t have been able to make. From whitewater trips down the East Race in South Bend with Abigail McKenzie and Miles O’Shea where we spent hours laughing as we tipped out of our raft to Lilly Scholars Launch where I was able to serve as a Cabin Leader alongside Destiny McManus, Beau Kenkel, and Lucia Walker, I have met countless Scholars I now have the honor of calling friends. These relationships I have built go further than just the events we meet at, and because of LSN I have made true friendships with people that have a deep care for giving back to the state we all call home.
These deep engagements that I have had with LSN events, Lilly Scholars, and as the President of the Notre Dame LSN Chapter are what led me to apply for the LSN Communications Internship. My understanding and appreciation for the work LSN does has only continued to grow, and I felt a calling to give back to an organization that has given me so much. With this role I saw an opportunity to tell stories that matter, and I had a deep desire to make a positive difference through meaningful storytelling.
Looking back now, I ask, “What has the Lilly Scholarship provided me?” It most certainly has provided me with a first-rate education, from some of the best professors in the world, but it has also provided me with the opportunity to create friendships with people I will cherish for the rest of my life, grow as a leader, and develop professionally. However, most importantly it has allowed me to become the person that I have become today.
As I continue my college journey, I’m grateful for the chance to reflect on just how fortunate I am—to be a Hoosier, to be Irish, and to be part of the Lilly Scholar family.
