As news broke annoucning the winners for the Daniels Fund Scholarship, one winner stuck out for Greeley West High School. Senior Kylee Wolfe was not only listed as a recipient for the Daniels Scholarship, she also was annoucned as a winner for the Dell Scholarship and the prestigious Boettcher Scholarship.  Senior classmate Jilly Huang was also a Boettcher winner.   Senior Diana Alva was a second Dell winner, as well.  

When you combine all three scholarships together, Wolfe received over $200,000 in prize money.

Wolfe said she has been setting herself up for success by being involved in everything she could find herself doing at West.  She said starting in her freshmen was important. “I ultimately took on this challenge my freshman year, which consisted of being a full IB student while juggling three sports, amongst other things,” Wolfe explained.  “These four years have definitely been difficult, but also so worth it.”

Wolfe added that there were times she felt stressed.  “All those late nights after games spent studying, and completing loads of homework were overwhelming, and sometimes it felt impossible. However, winning (the scholarships) is proof that my hard work has paid off, and my dedication did not go in vain,” Wolfe said.  

Wolfe understands that she is able to go to any college in the United States with the Daniels Fund, but she is still wanting to have that student-athlete lifestyle.  Therefore, she is still unsure on where she wants to go after high school. Wolfe said, “I have not confirmed my college decisions as I am currently in the volleyball recruitment process. I am between attending CU Boulder or a smaller D2 or D3 school to continue my volleyball career,” Wolfe said.  “Either way, I plan to study journalism with a sports media emphasis.”

 The criteria for each scholarship was a little bit different.  The Daniels Fund criteria focuses on strength of character, leadership potential, commitment to serving their communities, and academic performance or promise.  They also are looking for well-rounded personalities, emotional maturity and a need for financial support. Boettcher is more focused on superior scholastic ability, intellectual curiosity, evidence of leadership and involvement, service to community and school and outstanding character. Both of these scholarships are very hard to get, let alone to win both. 

Wolfe’s AVID teacher, Ms. Cynthia Stump, said she was a pleasure to work with.  ““I have known Kylee for four years and have been her AVID teacher for four years. It feels surreal to have her in class; she is like the epitome of the perfect student. In a way I feel guilty because she just takes care of business,” Stump said. “Honestly she would have been successful in my class or any other class because she is that intent and determined to have success in her life. I cannot claim any credit for what she has done.” 

Just because Wolfe won the scholarships doesn’t mean she will be taking any time off soon.  High-end scholarships keep the requirements into college.  To stay on track to obtain the money, she will have to maintain her academic standards and attend a few events regularly through her college career.  

Wolfe had a word of advice for others that are trying to achieve the feat of winning any of these scholarships.  “Being vulnerable about my hardships and struggles and how I have overcome them was inspiring to (the committees).  Although it can be difficult, they want to know who you are as a person, and a bold and genuine story can do just that,” Wolfe said. 

She also pointed out that there are plenty of teachers who will help around the building.  “Use your resources! There are teachers and advisors that want to help you and can make the entire process a lot less stressful,” Wolfe added.  “By utilizing them and doing your research on the scholarship, you will be setting yourself up as a competitive candidate.”