A student winning the McConnell Scholars Award is a great honor and recognition of their academic achievements and leadership potential. The McConnell Scholars Program is a highly competitive program that was established in 1991 by Kentucky Senator Mitch McConnell. It was his hope that it would provide exceptional Kentucky students with the opportunity to build their leadership skills and allow them to engage in public service.

Winning the McConnell Scholars Award is an incredibly difficult feat. The scholars are selected based on their academic excellence, leadership skills, and commitment to community service. 

The McConnell Scholar includes a full-ride scholarship, including tuition fees, room, board, and other expenses throughout their studies. The scholarship provides them with the opportunity to chase their academic interests without any financial burden and to focus on the values such as community service and leadership that McConnell wanted for them. 

Recently, Highlands High School senior Kathleen Price was awarded the prestigious McConnell Scholars award. It’s a moment of great pride and celebration for her, her family, and the entire community.

For Price, she had to start working her freshman year toward this award. 

“It was a very long process. I initially applied to the University of Louisville. The actual application, I would take it back to my freshman year. I started to build my resume, all my activities, service hours, and that sort of stuff,” she says.

Kathleen’s motivation to strive towards this award was the practice of law. 

Price expressed, “I’ve always had a love for the law, I do Kentucky team court. I’m on the mock trial team. I’ve just always enjoyed that.” 

Price has expressed that she had difficulties finding how school was going to work for her in the future. She says, “I’ve never really enjoyed school itself, up until this last year when I joined ‘We the People.’ It was something where I found my niche, where I wanted to do and that is what the whole program is about.”

With the McConnell Scholarship, she has been given a great opportunity to achieve her goals for the future. 

Price says, “I plan to go to law school. What exact route I will take, I’m not entirely sure, probably criminal law, and then from their possibilities are endless.”