The three winners of the Herbert Scholarships in this year’s freshman class are awestruck and appreciative of the prestigious honor.
They see it as a precious gift.
As a timely godsend.
As a reward for four years of meritorious work in high school.
And as a relief from the financial costs of attending four years at Indiana University East.
The recipients of the full-ride scholarships – and more – are Aleigha Williams of Connersville, Corbin Frye of Greenville, Ohio, and Brody Puckett, of Lincoln High School in Cambridge City.
“It’s been a very big blessing for me,” Williams said.
The trio found out about the blessing in different ways. Williams was asked to come into the advising office. She was told only that “We have a gift for you.”
What a gift it is. Besides free tuition and fees, the Herbert Award winners receive a $1,200 stipend to purchase electronics (such as a laptop), a $1,000 grant for a study-abroad trip during their years at IU East and opportunities to meet university leaders and to earn internships and research in the their chosen fields.
“It has already been very, very helpful,” Williams said.
The award is distinguished. It is given to only 30 incoming freshmen (a percentage of about .002) across the Indiana University system – which boasts a record 15,574 first-year enrollees this fall.
Frye learned about the award when he was handed an informational folder while attending Freshman Scholarship Day before the Fall Semester began.
“I didn’t know about it going in (to Scholarship Day),” he said. “What a really nice surprise. It will help a ton – covers my classes and extra. It is a big relief.”
Puckett learned about the award through a packet that was sent to his home as he was unable to attend Scholarship Day because his father was receiving an educational honor in Indianapolis on the same day.
“I didn’t have the chance to go. I got a notice with a big packet a couple days later. It definitely was a nice surprise to come home to,” Puckett said.
Read on for more about the Herbert Scholars for 2024.
Aleigha Williams
Williams aspires to become a psychiatrist, so double majoring in biochemistry and psychology is her first stepping stone toward medical school.
“Being a doctor has been a dream since I was two (years old) and I started thinking about psychiatry my senior year of high school,” she said.
The 18-year-old, who graduated from Connersville High School with a 4.0 grade point average, applied to 20 universities and was accepted by all of them.
She narrowed her final candidates to Ball State, Purdue and IU East.
She chose IU East because it was the best fit for her degree programs and also for lower costs, smaller class sizes and a shorter 45-mile drive to get to campus from Connersville.
It also offers easy access to medical facilities, such as Reid Health that has a hospital adjacent to the campus in Richmond.
Williams hopes to land an internship with Reid Health during her studies.
She was familiar with IU East while growing up because her parents, Ben and Carron Williams, took classes there.
Aleigha drives up for classes on Mondays, Tuesdays and Thursdays and uses the other days for studies and homework.
“I have all in-person classes this semester,” she said. “Typically, I work better in person.”
So far, everything has worked out well.
“All of my professors have been very helpful,” Williams said. “I am very glad to go to a smaller school. Everyone has been welcoming, kind to be around.”
Williams was a decorated swimmer and tennis player for Connersville High School and worked as a lifeguard during the summer, but doesn’t plan to pursue sports at IU East.
She does plan to pursue overseas travel that would utilize the stipend from the Herbert Scholarship:
“I would love the opportunity to study abroad, but don’t know where.”
Williams used her electronics stipend to purchase a Lenovo laptop.
Corbin Frye
It’s not an understatement that life can be a bit hectic for Corbin Frye.
Make that happily hectic.
He often babysits for his four-year-old sister at home in Greenville, Ohio.
He often makes drives to St. Louis to visit his significant other, who is studying in the arts field at Washington University.
He often works as a tutor for math and world history at Richmond High School.
He just recently gave up his job as a seller of coins and sports items for an auctioneering business.
That was interesting to work in,” Frye said.
He is pursuing a double major in secondary education and math at IU East – and hopes to work someday in a math-centered career field. He is pursuing the Honors Program, which entails taking extra classes at a higher level.
He is the first in his family to attend IU East. It was an easy choice, though.
“I was pretty set on coming here my junior year after we took a trip here. It was pretty cool.” Corbin said. “It is close to home and filled my boxes – and it was cheap.”
His first semester has gone smoothly. He takes three classes on campus and two online.
“My classes are cool,” he said. “I’ve liked it well so far.”
That way he can help out his mother, Kassi, with his little sister.
“She keeps me busy when I am home,” Frye said. “If she needs to be picked up, I go get her.”
He used his electronics stipend to buy a laptop with a bigger screen (and more compatibility with Microsoft programs) that is better suited for taking online courses.
Frye is open to taking a study-abroad trip with the stipend provided by the Herbert Scholarship, but has no plans.
Brody Puckett
Puckett is a case in point. The full-ride financial package has given him more time to focus on campus activities, rather than working a part-time job.
He was on campus for classes from Monday to Thursday, so he started looking for an activity that would help him compete and meet people.
“A couple weeks after school started, I joined track (400-meter dash),” he explained. “I’ve been a runner for seven or eight years and reached regionals in track and cross country in high school. I wasn’t sure I would have the time.”
The 18-year-old was the valedictorian last spring for Lincoln High School.
Despite his all-around academic excellence, Puckett was uncertain during his senior year about what he wanted to pursue in college.
That was until he accepted an invitation to work on a half-day internship with technology workers in the school district.
“I really wasn’t sure what I wanted to do,” he said. “I had always liked computers, looking for data and doing other computer stuff.”
The internship helped open his eyes to studying informatics, which is his major at IU East.
“I would be open to anything (in the field),” he said. “There are options everywhere.”
Puckett said he is the first in his immediate family to attend IU East.
He already had a laptop that fulfills his needs, so he used his electronics stipend to buy accessories and a keyboard. He will consider taking a study-abroad trip, but his thoughts are focused on other things right now.
Puckett said it’s natural to be a great student when your parents are both teachers. His father, Ron, teaches business at Lincoln and his mother, Amy, is a first-grade teacher for the Western Wayne Schools.
“I got used to that (excellence in school). I just naturally got stuff done,” he said.