By Nick Vaughn, Guest Columnist
As I alluded to in my previous article, I was planning on filling everyone in on just what I’ve been up to the past couple of months, so here it is.
To begin, I have enjoyed (and survived) my first half semester of college! For those of you unaware, I was awarded the Benjamin Templeton scholarship at Hanover College, which covers all of the tuition. I am very blessed to have received such a prestigious scholarship from an equally prestigious institution like Hanover. The staff, students, and everyone in-between have been awesome, friendly, and helpful and I am glad to call Hanover my school. As far as courses go I am taking a World Civilizations course that spans from prehistory to the 1500s, a History of Western Art course, a Literature and Politics course, and a Reason and Belief Philosophy course. I am thoroughly enjoying my classes here and am looking forward to the coming semesters. I haven’t declared a major yet but I am leaning towards History.
Outside of the classroom I have been able to meet some great people and make some awesome friends. In fact, I am even lucky enough to be a part of a new student organization/nonprofit that will reach beyond campus. My roommate, Samuel Pyle, was adopted by his parents from Sierra Leone, Africa and attended
Oldham County High School in Kentucky. During his time in high school, he was able to raise money to supply the kids from the orphanage he used to live at backpacks and toys for Christmas. After having some conversations and discussing with a couple of our other friends, we decided to begin to craft a plan for a nonprofit that will help all kids in Sierra Leone, specifically those who want to go to high school and attend college. After much deliberation, we decided to name it Looking Back, Moving Forward in honor of Samuel’s amazing journey to get to America (to learn more about Samuel, click this link).
This organization is in the beginning phases of becoming a registered not-for-profit organization, however, we are an official student organization where I am blessed to be able to serve as Vice President of Budgetary Operations and hope to hold the same position with the official nonprofit organization. While I am very proud to be able to work towards making Looking Back, Moving Forward a
reality, I must give all credit to Samuel. This was his idea and I am very proud to stand with him to make it reality.
I highly encourage you to check out our Facebook page so you can keep up to date with what is going on. Our goals are to be able to raise enough money to provide a good Christmas for the kids of the Raining Season Orphanage as well as to be able to begin to create the scholarship fund for kids in Sierra Leone who cannot afford to go to high school or college. Eventually, we plan on having a fundraising event in New Albany as well as a 5k run either at Hanover, in New Albany, or in Oldham County where Samuel lives. Be on the lookout for announcements!
I am looking forward to coming home this Friday to celebrate mine and Hannah’s birthday with family over the weekend. If you would like to do some catching up just reach out to me! I am ready to be back home in New Albany!
And I leave you with the quote of the day: “Few men have virtue to withstand the highest bidder.” -- George Washington.
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