Three Johnson County students will go to college tuition free, due to their academic work-ethic, volunteer work and extracurricular activities.
Emma Dillon of Franklin Community High School; Eleanor Hammerschmitt of Roncalli High School; and Megan Johns of Greenwood Community High School were awarded 2020 Lilly Endowment Scholarships, which include tuition and a $900 stipend for books, according to a news release from the Johnson County Community Foundation.
Dillon, who won a national award earlier this month for her efforts to raise money for cancer research by selling homemade bows, continues her achievement streak, and will now have her education at Indiana University’s Kelley School of Business almost entirely paid for, with the exception of room and board.
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Through her bow sales, she has raised about $42,000 for cancer research and Franklin Strong, an initiative that was started after two students died. She also helped fund hunting trips for students with special needs, sponsored a child in Haiti, and is raising money for a mission trip to Honduras with her parents and boyfriend in March, to help build houses and provide food in a community there, Dillon said.
Dillon is part of the Mayor’s Youth Leadership Council and the Johnson County Youth Leadership Academy, and is helping renovate Freedom Park in Greenwood, she said.
Dillon has a 4.105 GPA, is a cheerleader and competes as a power lifter.
“It’s going to help with a lot more than half the cost of college; it’s going to pay for full tuition and books, which is awesome,” Dillon said.
While maintaining a 4.4 to 4.5 GPA, Hammerschmitt is able to find time to compete on a travel softball team and volunteer at Morning Pointe of Franklin retirement home. She is also a member of the group, Promise to Keep, which visits southside Catholic schools and preaches abstinence, she said.
Like the two other scholarship recipients, she attained her high GPA through advance placement and dual credit classes. She wants to attend the University of Notre Dame, where she hopes to study medicine, Hammerschmitt said.
“My grandpa got sick quite a few years ago and had heart issues. I’d look into it a lot. He got a quadruple bypass,” Hammerschmitt said. “I’ve always been interested in the medical field and helping people to some extent.”
The scholarship will help her avoid much of the student debt she might have faced, as she’ll have to continue her studies through medical school, she said.
“I’m just so grateful for being awarded this scholarship; I’m very thankful,” Hammerschmitt said. “I can get to med school with hopefully less debt.”
Johns holds leadership positions in several Greenwood High School clubs. She is the president of the school’s National Honor Society there, Vice President of the Key and Interact clubs, and captain of the volleyball team, which she has been playing on for the past three years, Johns said.
Originally wanting to go into the medical field, Johns volunteered at Community Hospital South, but switched career paths after reading an article about a pilot shortage. She already has ties to the field; her brother is in his second year of studying flights, Johns said.
Johns carries a 4.6 GPA. With the exception of economics, all of her classes, including calculus, English, psychology, biology and statistics are either advanced placement or dual credit classes, she said.
Johns plans to attend Purdue University and study in the flight program, which was ranked the top flight school in the nation by Pilot Colleges.
“(This scholarship) is going to impact the rest of my life,” Johns said. “There’s the immediate impact on the cost of college for me and my family. It’s a great opportunity and I’m super thankful.”
