Scottsburg
High School soccer captain and valedictorian Matthew Jerrell’s dreams
are coming true — he will play soccer in the fall while studying in an
accredited, direct-entry pharmacy program at Ohio Northern University, a
National Collegiate Athletic Association Division III college.
While
at Ohio Northern University, Jerrell will receive an academic
scholarship for $17,000 per year, which is renewable for four years of
his college education. The Division III college does not offer athletic
scholarships.
“I have always pushed my limits and the next step
after high school soccer was college,” Jerrell said. “It was a dream I
have always had to play at a higher level and Ohio Northern University
offered me that.”
Since Jerrell was 3-years-old, he has been
playing soccer. His love for the sport continued to grow as he grew
older, so much that he went on to improve to a level where he could play
for the Indiana State Olympic Development team.
“I was on this
state team for over three years, and we played other state teams during
tournaments in Alabama or Tennessee and in the summer would travel to
regional camp and compete against more state teams. During club season, I
played for Southern Indiana United and would compete against teams
throughout the region in different states,” Jerrell said.
With his
passion for soccer and his discipline for pushing himself to the next
level, Jerrell set several school records, including scoring the most
goals in a season (34); most goals in a career (81); most goals in a
game (7); most goal as a freshman (15); and most assists in one game
(3).
“Athletically, SHS has been the place to push me to my limits
in efforts to be in the best shape and the best athlete I can be,”
Jerrell said.
Even with Jerrell’s athletic talent in soccer,
Jerrell also has a strong work ethic when it comes to academics. His
dedication and diligence in his studies has resulted in him being his
class’ valedictorian and in him being accepted into one of a handful of
direct-entry, accredited pharmacy schools in the country.
“The
Raabe College of Pharmacy at Ohio Northern University is over a hundred
years and has always produced high-quality pharmacists. I wanted to
continue my education at an institute that would be able to challenge me
and so I picked this university,” Jerrell said. “To be accepted, I had
to complete an application that also involved two letters of
recommendation and an essay. After this process, I was selected to
travel to ONU and complete an interview that was later followed with a
timed essay. I, then, waited another month to see if I was selected into
their program or not.”
At Ohio Northern University, Jerrell will
go directly into the pharmacy program, so later, he will not have to
apply to a pharmacy program after finishing his liberal arts education
courses. He will finish his pharmacy program six years after graduating
from high school.
“I have always wanted to do something in health
care and I learned about pharmacy as a freshman. I continued learning
about it and job shadowed until I realized that this was the health care
profession I wanted to pursue,” Jerrell said. “At SHS I had many
different learning opportunities educationally in many challenging
courses. I believe New Tech helped me with the aspect of group projects
and working well with other people while my college-preparatory classes
helped me understand how to manage a hard workload.”