Kunkler earns Lilly

Gabby Kunkler stepped into the television studio Thursday morning at Jay County High School, her sister Vivienne close behind, having been told they were going to be recording a segment about sisters on the Patriot swim team.

It took her just one more step to figure out she had been lied to, in the best possible way.

Kunkler’s visit to the studio wasn’t about swimming at all. That was just a ruse to get her to the TV studio to be honored as Jay County’s 2018 Lilly Endowment Community Scholar.

Her face shifted first to realization, then shock and finally elation by the time she shook hands with Rex Journay, the vice president of The Portland Foundation who has the enviable task of presenting the Lilly scholarship. And then came the tears as she hugged her mom Dawn, brother Nichol, dad Nick, grandpa Gene Figel and just about anyone else she could find.

“I was like, ‘What? What? What? Not me. Not Gabby Kunkler,’” she said. “But I’m extremely grateful for it. It’s obviously a great opportunity.”

The opportunity the Lilly scholarship provides is full tuition to any Indiana college — Kunkler has chosen Ball State University — as well as a $900 annual stipend for books and equipment. There were 142 such scholarships given across the state through the Lilly Endowment as part of an initiative to help Indiana students reach higher levels of education.

Kunkler plans to study occupational therapy at BSU and said she is considering a career in special abilities therapy, special education therapy or something similar.

“I like working with special needs kids,” she said. “I have a brother and a step-brother that have autism. And growing up I’ve always helped take care of them. We’ve always had occupational therapists in our house. … I always loved getting to see them work with them and seeing how much improvement my brothers got from it.”

Her activities in high school already follow that path as the “passion project” she’s working on as president of student council will focus on integrating special needs kids into school sports. And she’s also involved in Best Buddies, a group that seeks to create opportunities for those with intellectual and developmental disabilities.

Kunkler, who was home-schooled until she reached seventh grade, carries a 3.88 grade point average and is a member of the National Honor Society, 4-H, FFA and the JCHS German Club.

She ran cross country for three years, will be a four-year track athlete in the spring and took up swimming for the first time this year.

In order to be eligible for the Lilly scholarship — Kunkler had not planned on applying but did so after some gentle nudging from her mom — a student must have at least a 3.5 grade point average. There were 39 applicants in Jay County this year, and the field was narrowed to four finalists based on criteria including academic excellence, financial need, school/community activities and the response to an essay question.

Those finalists — Kayla Dirksen, Tucker Pearson, Lucy Laux and Kunkler — then participated in an interview with nine foundation board members and wrote an impromptu essay. Based on those items, the foundation selected a nominee and two alternates and submitted those choices to Independent Colleges of Indiana for the final selection.

“When we go through the interviews, you have nine individuals that they’ve never met for the most part, and they’re mostly older,” said Journay. “Gabby was just very composed, very impressive in her interview.”

As she was being congratulated Thursday morning, Kunkler said she had already been having a good day.

She woke up at 5:30 a.m. for swim practice, picked up a Froster from Circle K on the way, got to spend time with her teammates and was looking forward to only having to swim in 50-yard increments at Thursday’s meet at Norwell.

The announcement of being the Lilly scholar lifted the day from being just good, to great.

“It’s an amazing feeling,” Kunkler said. “I don’t think I will ever be sad again.”