Today’s front page offers the Wells County Foundation announcement of Ella Wheeler being awarded the Lilly Endowment Scholarship. It is similar to stories we run each year, highlighting the current recipient. I don’t know most of the kids, although I’ve introduced myself to many of them. They are rock stars to me. The Lilly Scholarship is a lifetime achievement award in many ways for these amazing teens.
Today’s announcement, however, is special to me.
Months ago, I met Ella while she was preparing for the Miss Indiana Teen competition. She impressed me so much that I featured her and my cousin Brad in a column. Brad happened to be the emcee of that competition. Brad and I were talking at a family member’s funeral quite a while later. He clearly remembered Ella and spoke about how extraordinary she was.
Ella’s mom, Abbey, stopped by the office earlier this week to share the news with me. I was honored to have been included and was so excited that I was still shaking hours later.
It brought back a flood of memories and emotions.
Let me explain.
Flashing back to 2013, my oldest son Chandler had applied for the Lilly scholarship just like so many seniors do all over Indiana.
Chandler, Larisa and I had high hopes, but worked to keep our expectations in check.
For reference, the Lilly Endowment Scholarship covers four years of tuition costs plus a book/technology stipend each year at any accredited Indiana university.
Considering the high cost of college, this scholarship is the equivalent of a teenage lottery.
Being struck by lightning seemed more likely than Chandler winning this scholarship.
He wanted to be a chemical engineer. Only four schools in Indiana offered that degree – Notre Dame, Trine, Purdue and Rose-Hulman. He was only interested in touring two of them, Purdue and Rose.
Tuition costs for three of those four colleges were simply outrageous. The cost of any higher education is generally ridiculous, but Notre Dame, Rose-Hulman and Trine were out of reach for us. Purdue was the only relatively reasonable option.
We toured Purdue first. We all thought it was wonderful, which is quite a compliment coming from parents with Indiana University degrees. After leaving, he was pretty sure that was where he wanted to go. He grew up in a small town and attended a small high school. He wanted something different. He wanted big.
Rose-Hulman had a different vibe altogether. It was small. It was friendly. It felt like home. His college decision was finalized that day.
Getting accepted and paying for it were problems to worry about later.
A few days after the Rose-Hulman tour we received incredible news. Chandler was one of three Lilly finalists.
That lightning strike was now a one-in-three chance.
We had precious little time to prepare but were blessed by a few community members who helped Chandler get ready for his one big shot. Everything was riding on a 15 minute interview with a panel of strangers. The pressure was immense.
He felt good about his interview, but you never know. His high school, Churubusco, was the smallest school in Whitley County. His competition, two Columbia City students, had so many more advantages. We were optimistic but tried to remain realistic.
Time moved slowly. Larisa and I talked privately about the sacrifices we could make to get Chandler to Rose-Hulman. Retirement could be cashed in. Maybe we’d sell a kidney.
The day the letter came, we were out as a family, driving home in separate cars. I opened the mailbox. My youngest son was in the car with me. We both felt sick. We were either being struck by lightning or there was bad news in that letter. There was a 66.7% chance of the latter.
I hid the evidence and tried to act like nothing had happened. I told my wife about the letter. She raced to the bedroom to open it. We had decided that if it was crushing news, we wanted help soften the blow.
Larisa came out of the bedroom crying with no indication if the news was good or bad. I had to go look for myself to find out.
The words on that piece of paper were the most glorious I had ever read.
Lightning had struck.
We kept the news from Chandler that day. Winning the teenage lottery deserved a massive reveal.
His principal was in our small group at church. He devised a plan. Monday morning, Larisa got up at 3 a.m. to drive to Terre Haute to buy Rose-Hulman apparel for the event. We had cake, balloons, close friends, family and one life-changing surprise.
I will never forget the moment he walked into that room. I’m tearing up as I write this.
This photo, which hangs on my office wall, tells the story.
A lifetime of dreams and hard work had just come true. For the past 10 years, every time we drive by the Lilly building in Indianapolis, Larisa quietly says “Thank you Mr. Lilly.” Chandler lives down there now and, coincidentally, works at Lilly.
Back to this week. After hearing the news, I called my wife. Larisa called Chandler. Chandler called me. We were all excited for Ella despite the fact that Chandler and Larisa haven’t met her.
Congratulations Ella, you are a rock star.
Finally, from the Brown family to the Wheelers, congratulations and welcome to the Lilly family.
dougb@news-banner.com
