The Harry S. Truman Scholarship is a highly competitive and prestigious federal scholarship granted to U.S. college juniors for demonstrated leadership potential and a commitment to public service. The scholarship is in the amount of $30,000 toward a graduate education. The Foundation strives to select one person per state, and according to the Washington Post, the Truman Scholarship’s “sole aim is to pick out people with potential to become leaders—then provide support to help them realize their aspirations.” Congress created the scholarship in 1975 as a living memorial to the 33rd President of the United States. Instead of a statue erected in his honor, the Truman Scholarship is the official federal memorial to its namesake president. The Truman Scholarship resides in the company of the Rhodes, Marshall and Fulbright Scholarships, and is often considered the “Rhodes of public service” or the “baby Rhodes” for short.

Junior Donovan Hicks has recently been named one of the 2015 Truman Scholarship award recipients for the state of South Carolina.

“I had not heard of this opportunity until I attended the Public Policy and Leadership Conference at Harvard my sophomore year” says Hicks. “It is amazing how many opportunities exist, but for some reason, go unheard of.”

After learning about the opportunity, Hicks began the process of preparing to apply for the scholarship.

He says “the scholarship sounded like a perfect fit for my interest at the time.”

“For me, the Truman will allow me to gain respect and entry into the field of education policy, both for graduate/law school and after. The scholarship carries a host of weight and significance and demonstrates my diligence and potential…. These honors incredibly diversify you and make you competitive amongst your peers…. One of my favorite things about this entire pro- cess has been the friends I have made throughout the process. Some of the friends who actually won, I met them at the Harvard conference. Four of them won for their respective states. Others, I met during my finalist interview, in which we had to sit and socialize in a room all-day while we waited for our interviews – you can imagine how close we got. Once you define your career interests, it is insane what small circles you will run in with like-minded people across the country. This world really is small.”

Hicks is excited that he will soon be united with some of these friends in Kansas City, Mo., the home of President Truman, at William Jewell College. He and the other new scholars will spend one week presenting and networking in May.

“I am pumped for that,” says Hicks.

The next steps for Hicks are relatively clear. The first step, following graduation, is to attend a top law school and public policy program.

“[This will] be no easy feat on my part,” says Hicks. “I have to score high enough on the LSAT to gain entry into both a law and policy school, if I hope to complete the dual degree.”

Should he be accepted, Hicks can begin his career. He plans to teach in the classroom if he can fit it into his schedule and if he decides to pursue educa- tion policy. At this point, however, Hicks has not decided how that will happen.

“It will all work out, and my long term goals include leading a top educational think-tank like the Ford Foundation or the Roosevelt Institute – I have a long road to get there,” says Hicks.

Hicks has advice for students interested in pursuing the Truman Scholarship.

“It is high time that Wofford starts producing scholars – Truman, Fulbright, Marshall, Rhodes, Goldwater and the like – on a regular basis because we have them right here on campus! Dream big folks! Wofford is full of potential scholars, and folks should show interest in these opportunities by reaching out to Dr. Kirsten Krick-Aigner, who is the chair of national/competitive scholarships.

“There was a time in the 80s when Wofford produced one of these scholars every year, and I believe it is time for us to reclaim that dominance. Every time a person wins one of these, Wofford gets noticed, and our national ranking soars. So, if you are interested in public service, and have an extensive record in service, leadership and have a strong GPA, then you should definitely consider applying for the Truman. I will not lie; this was a long process – one that took about 10 complete drafts over the course of four months, but in the end, it was all worth it. Please reach out to me, if you are interested.”

Hicks adds that he does not prefer the spotlight.

“I think the misconception of all this attention is that I somehow have my life figured out, and that I excel beyond others here at Wofford, but that is not true,” he says. “I struggle like everyone else. I make unfortunate grades sometimes, and generally stress about everything. I have a plan for my life, but it is circumstantial and nothing is guaranteed. At the end of the day, I am like any other Wofford student who tries hard and is ambitious. So if I can do it, anyone else here can also.”