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Fort Wayne, Indiana, Resident Gets Full Tuition Scholarship From Ball State

Ball State University senior Rachel Haywood of Fort Wayne, Indiana, has been named a Centennial Scholar and awarded full, in-state tuition for her final year of study. Haywood is one of 18 Centennial Scholars, selected for strong scholarship, service to their profession, and a commitment to community engagement and Ball State. As a creative writing major, she aims to become an editor for a literary magazine, where she can unleash her creativity while bolstering others’ writing techniques.

“Ball State has been extraordinarily instrumental in my growth during college. The University works hard to provide its students with countless opportunities for development through challenging courses and excellent extracurriculars,” Haywood said. “In the English department, I’ve found myself surrounded by a supportive network of professors and other students, all of whom are just as hardworking and passionate about English and spreading the teaching of the humanities. Each day I feel more at home, and I know I can take on the world after graduation, wherever that may be.”

Haywood is a member on the communications team for the Book Arts Collaborative in downtown Muncie. In this immersive learning experience, students bind books by hand, print various products on antique printing presses and teach printing and bookbinding community workshops. Haywood has learned about entrepreneurship as the Books Arts Collaborative sells the students’ finished products to the community and several retailers. She’s also a member of Sigma Tau Delta, an international English honors society. Also passionate for Riley Hospital for Children, she’s raised a significant amount of money through Ball State’s Dance Marathon, which directly benefits the hospital.

“I feel incredibly honored to have received a Centennial Scholarship,” she said. “To feel, in a sense, like a face of the University I’m so proud of is a once in a lifetime opportunity that I am so happy to be experiencing this year.”

Ball State President Geoffrey S. Mearns commended the students for their endeavors on and off campus. “Their academic and civic accomplishments reflect our University’s enduring values — values that have guided this institution through our proud past,” he said, “and will continue to be a source of inspiration for our bright future.”