April 4, 2018 at 5:30 p.m.
Trotter chosen as Lilly scholar
Pete Trotter, a senior at Hauser Sr. High School, had been leaning toward Purdue University for his post secondary studies, mainly because it was cheaper than his top choice, Wabash College in Crawfordsville.
Then he got the news that changed everything.
Heritage Fund -- The Community Foundation of Bartholomew County announced this month that Trotter was one of only two students countywide to win the 2017 Lilly Endowment Community Scholarship. As such, he will receive full tuition for four years to the Indiana college of his choice, plus a $900 annual stipend to purchase books and equipment required for his classes.
Suddenly, Wabash College is back in play, as is any other Indiana college that offers the kinds of courses that will prepare him for graduate school -- and ultimately a career as a medical doctor in pediatrics.
According to the Department of Education, the average annual in-state college tuition in Indiana was $16,703 for the 2015-2016 academic year.
"It's such an honor to receive this," Trotter said about his scholarship. "All my plans to help people in the future, this helps make it possible."
Trotter thought his chances for the scholarship were dim at best. Heritage Fund received 101 applications for this year's scholarships, out of which only 10 students were chosen for selection-committee interviews, according to a Heritage Fund press release. The release states that scholarship applicants were evaluated on academic performance, scholastic activities, community involvement and employment, leadership, financial need, responses to short-answer questions, a 450-word essay and two recommendations.
But Trotter measured up well. He is ranked first in his high school class for outstanding grades, and he has been active in Bartholomew County 4-H, Indiana FFA, varsity basketball, track and field, National Honor Society, Mid-States Moravian Regional Youth Council and Fellowship of Christian Athletes, among other activities. He coaches or has coached children in Special Olympics and soccer.
Trotter's mother, Polly Trotter, said she and her husband, Barry, are "super excited" and proud of their son. She said Pete decided long ago that he would get straight A's, and focused keenly on making it happen.
He balances things so well," she said. "I never had to tell him to do his homework. He just did it. He was always just super motivated."
Polly Trotter, an educator in the Flat Rock-Hawcreek School Corp., would not take any credit for her son's success. She said her other three children have special strengths of their own and get good grades in school, but only Pete has shown the kind of academic discipline that he needed to edge out such a competitive field of applicants for the Lilly scholarship and ultimately achieve his goal.
"He works hard at everything he does," she said.[[In-content Ad]]
