The Evans Scholars Foundation was established in 1930 by Chicago amateur golfer Charles Evans Jr. and the Western Golf Association. The program awards scholarships to caddies who demonstrate financial need, excellent grades, outstanding character, and a strong caddie record. The four-year, full-ride scholarship includes tuition and housing in the Evans Scholar fraternity house at each university.
Nicholas Selimos, a senior at Mundelein High School, said he found out about the Evans scholarship when he first started caddying two years ago. Selimos stated, “I’m nervous, the main part that is hard is just the essay portion and getting letters recommendation.”
Caddying has changed his perspective on golf. He’s gotten much better at playing the game of golf though caddying. He said, “Before hitting the ball there’s plenty of different steps that you have to think about and look at.”
When caddying, you have to be “positive and respectful to the golfers you are caddying,” he stated. It may seem easy to people who have never caddied before, but it actually takes a lot of skill and the more you do it the smarter you get at golf.
Nicholas said if he were to win the Evans scholarship he would be so thankful. Getting a full ride to a college can help him not have debt in the future and he won’t have to worry much about working to pay for college. If he were to win the scholarship he would want to go to the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign or Purdue University and major in Engineering.
Adam Adaska and Sergio Rodriguez, MHS 2024 graduates, both were awarded the Evans Scholarship last year. They will also both be attending University of Illinois-Chicago (UIC)
Adaska shared, “I went through a long application process that involved an essay.”
Becoming a finalist and going to an interview with over 100 people watching was stressful to him. Two weeks after the interview, he received a big surprise at his front door. It was a certificate informing him he had won and received the scholarship.
He and his family were “over the moon happy” when he found out that he had won. He cried and laughed at the same time because of how happy he and his family were, and how stressful the process was.
After caddying for five years the work paid off, but that wasn’t just one of the biggest things he looked at. Adaska stated, “Caddying didn’t just get me a scholarship, it also changed my perspective on golf and how good people play compared to bad people.”
Getting into caddying wasn’t easy for him because of talking and meeting new people, but it sure did help when he had to do his interview in front of 100 people for the scholarship.
In the end, Adaska said that starting caddying was one of his favorite memories and to keep going and getting a scholarship out of it was a big reward for all the hard work he put in.
