Over my 12 years of continual education, these past two have been the most eventful ones in my life. From the hundreds of essays, presentations, tests, and projects, it all boils down to the final stretch into 2025. But of these two years of interest, and in my whole life in general, this year is the most eventful. Specifically, on December 10th of 2024, where it marks all the work being paid off — quite literally. As my principal and Dearborn Community Foundation announced that I’m their latest winner of the 2025 Lilly Endowment Community Scholarship. In which the Lilly Endowment Inc. will be paying my full tuition to any accredited school of my choosing. This has changed my life for the foreseeable future, removing the burdens and stress of a six-digit loan.
Graciously included is an additional $900/year stipend for all needed books and equipment for any course, along with paying any other fees. Completely removing student loan debt from my mind forever (could vary depending on college or stacking of scholarships, nonetheless nothing of concern). But to be honest with you, I never thought I would get an award to this degree.
When growing up, and going through primary and elementary school, I struggled — a lot. I had speech impediments, was failing my tests, and was below the class in every aspect. My social skills were basically 0, and I had neither friends nor confidence. I also moved cities to Lawrenceburg, further tanking any social aspects to absolutely nothing. My vision was also worsening, and I got glasses for the first time as well.
Teachers were urging for change, but I didn’t know how to even go about pulling it off. But middle school would soon come, and I decided to act. After finding a passion, I pulled the trigger on change. I stayed up and learned how to code without a teacher. I didn’t know it, but I was actually learning how to learn. Personal projects with bugs (errors in code) frustrated me but urged me to understand the root causes of problems and their solutions. Hell, I still do it to this day; I plan to continue as so for as long as I live.
Soon after, I found myself getting better and better grades. I started to understand how to learn. How to overcome — how to push myself forward. I made study guides, notecards, Kahoots, whatever it took to get that 80 to 100 percent. But here’s the thing: I never wanted to be valedictorian. You think a kid like me would strive for even better, but I wanted time — for the passion I so dearly loved. Instead, I maintain expectations, not perfection. I realized as I developed software that spending too much time on perfection led to a halt of overall progress.
With these newfound learning capabilities, teacher praise started to arise, and the report went from C’s to A’s. From middle school to high school, I’ve maintained at least an A average for each semester. Which has put my GPA at a 4.189. The extra weight is from honors classes and dual enrollment classes that are almost completing an associate’s degree in software development when I graduate.
As I built up my social skills over the following years, I started to become more well known in the communities I involved myself in. I started to help others as an underlying result. From helping in my school’s IT office, being a teacher assistant, being elected to join Hope Squad, making public open-source programming repositories, creating Minecraft servers, and now games of my own. Students and staff started to see my true passion and upkeep of others. Junior year, I was a homecoming prince, started attending school dances (for the first time ever), made the dean’s list at Ivy Tech, got accepted into Phi Theta Kappa, and went on to apply and get accepted into the National Honors Society.
Which brings us to 2024 and the 2025 school year; what a time to be alive. So far, I won the Versailles Pumpkin Show and got accepted into many colleges. Most of which have provided me with thousands of dollars of merit-based scholarships! All the ones are listed below:
- DePauw University: $184,000 ($46,000/yr)
- Earlham College: $168,000 ($42,000/yr)
- Drake University: $132,000 ($33,000/yr)
- Hanover College: $128,000 ($32,000/yr)
- Southwestern University: $128,000 ($32,000/yr)
- Monmouth College: $124,000 ($31,000/yr)
- Duquesne University: $120,000 ($30,000/yr)
- University of Evansville: $112,000 ($28,000/yr)
- Georgetown College: $100,000 ($25,000/yr)
- Anderson University: $92,000 ($23,000/yr)
- Indiana Tech: $84,000 ($21,000/yr)
- University of Indianapolis: $80,000 ($20,000/yr)
- Indiana University Bloomington: $28,000 ($7,000/yr)
- Ball State University: $22,000 ($5,500/yr)
- Michigan Technological University $0 ($0/yr)
- University of Dayton: $0 ($0/yr)
= $1,502,000 in offered scholarships over four years.
But one lured over the others: the Lilly Endowment Community Scholarship. On December 10, 2024, I was at the primary school helping kindergarteners through second graders with lunch and recess duty for Hope Squad. I was speaking with kindergarteners while I heard my name being called over the PA…
It said, “Nathan Parker, you’re needed in the athletic director’s office immediately at the high school.” Weird. My initial thought, to be honest, was that I was in some serious trouble. It’s pretty out of the ordinary to be called across schools while you’re just trying to relieve the chaos of a primary school. I started running over, where I saw my principal outside the door. I thought to myself, “Oh $#!&, this is serious.” I shouted, “Yo, am I in trouble?” He simply stated, “Maybe; I can’t tell you anything yet.” As we walk past the cafeteria, people look at me like I’m some criminal. Summoned from the outside, into the inside demise of the unknown. But we continued, and once I entered the athletic director’s office, everything changed. The work finally paid off. Presented were all the people that I’d met within the process of applying and competing. They finally said the words that I’ve been waiting on for since September: “You’re officially a 2025 Lilly Endowment Community Scholar!” I couldn’t immediately formulate words for my gratitude. The amount of work that was built up to this achievement was a feat and story within itself, and the future holds something greater. A sense of pride and security, knowing I can chase my dreams debt free.
Finally, after the many nights that I couldn’t sleep and the hours and hours of essay writing, I could take a much-needed break. There were many people on social media that also saw this achievement, and even some colleges. But what stood out the most was a handwritten letter from my principal that we got a few days later. It read as such (addressed to my parents, and he is pictured in the above picture):
"I wanted to take a moment to personally share how incredibly proud we are of Nathan and his remarkable accomplishment of being named a 2025 Lilly Endowment Community Scholar recipient. Nathan is an amazing young man, full of passion, personality, and drive, and it has been a privilege to witness his journey. When he was called to the office, the moment was unforgettable. His initial worry—like never being called to the office before—quickly transformed into genuine excitement. The smile on his face and the glow in his eyes were such rewarding reminders of why we do what we do in education. Moments like these, where a student's hard work and dedication come to fruition, are simply the best. Nathan's achievement is a testament to his character, but it also reflects the foundation you've built as his parents. It's clear you've been raised with love, support, and the highest standards. The values & guidance you've provided have helped shape him into the outstanding young man he is today. Thank you for letting us be a part of Nathan's remarkable journey."
— Jared Leiker
It has been an honor to be recognized for what I stand for, and I feel that this is the beginning of a new chapter in my life. Where debt is out of the equation, with the dream being ever so closer than it used to be. I’ve always said that I’ll keep working to make the big things happen.