FORT WAYNE, Ind.—The University of Saint Francis announces Huntington North High School senior Audrie Bowman as the winner of the full-tuition Pay It Forward Scholarship for 2022.
USF President Rev. Dr. Eric Albert Zimmer and WANE-TV’s Emily Dwire honored Bowman with the scholarship in a ceremony on Friday at Huntington North. USF partners with WANE-TV to annually promote the Pay It Forward Scholarship. Bowman’s mother, Julie Scher, and sister, Rylie Bowman, celebrated with her after the presentation.
The full-tuition and fees scholarship to USF has a four-year value of more than $140,000 and is awarded to an incoming USF student who represents going above and beyond to serve others and “pay it forward.” USF selected Bowman after she submitted an essay, participated in an on-campus interview, and told her story in a WANE-TV feature video. Bowman will enter USF in the 2023-24 academic year.
The other Pay It Forward finalists—Brianna McConnell of Greenfield, Indiana, and Siddha Hall of Seymour, Indiana—will receive half-tuition scholarships.
Bowman’s entry essay detailed how she chooses to help others considering two life-changing events. She helped form a support group for Huntington North students who have lost a parent, spurred to help others after her father died in an automobile accident. A former Riley Children’s Hospital patient, Audrie also works to raise money for families whose children need care through Riley Children’s Health. She is involved in many other school and volunteer activities, too.
“The more that people pay it forward in life and the more that people help others, the more we’ll be able to be live in a happy world,” Audrie said in her WANE-TV interview. “Do something not because you have to; do something because you are able and willing to help somebody out.”
Past USF Pay It Forward Scholarship full-tuition winners and their high schools: Crystal Grunawalt (Concordia Lutheran), Kevin Brown (Adams Central), Maria Solis (Bishop Luers), Alexis Treesh (Prairie Heights) and Mary Jones (Adams Central).
For more information on the Pay It Forward Scholarship, contact the Office of Admissions at 260-399-8000 or admis@sf.edu.
Founded in 1890 in the Catholic Franciscan tradition, the University of Saint Francis offers more than 60 undergraduate, graduate and doctoral programs through the College of Health Sciences and the College of Arts, Sciences and Business. In addition to its traditional programs, USF designs focused curricula for working adults in Fort Wayne, Crown Point and online. USF Downtown houses the music technology program while offering enhanced internship and networking opportunities for students. The University of Saint Francis, recognized as an NAIA Five-Star Champion of Character institution, has 18 athletic programs boasting two individual and four team NAIA national championships. Approximately 2,200 students from a broad geographic region attend USF.