Lucky 13 academic full scholarships at Knox Catholic
Thirteen was a lucky number for Knoxville Catholic High School students who recently were offered academic full-tuition scholarships.
The students — Alex Dally, Blaine Dolin, Ethan Boder, Joe Duhamel, Olivia Escher, Zoe Haub, Anna Hoang, Kiersten Man, Abby Orillion, Tony Spezia, Michael Stapleton, Andrea Subtirelu and Ellen Vo — will be honored during the school’s live graduation “under the lights” beginning at 8 p.m., Friday, June 19, in KCHS’s Blaine Stadium, Pam Rhoades, KCHS director of marketing and communications, stated in a press release.
The following profiles are from students who faarragutpress was able to contact.
Alex Dally
Dally, a Farragut resident, accepted scholarships from the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, where she will major in percussion performance with minors in leadership, business and theater.
“My future career goals are to work on Broadway,” Dally stated. “My overall experience at KCHS was incredible.”
She received the Hope Scholarship, $4,000 average per year; UT Volunteer Scholarship, $5,000 per year; General Assembly Merit Scholarship, an average $1,000 per year; and a General UTK School of Music Scholarship, $2,500 per year.
At KCHS, she had a weighted grade-point average of 4.36 and ACT score of 31. She was a member of Mu Alpha Theta, National Honors Society, was on the First Honors/President’s List and received the John Philip Sousa Band Award. She also participated in tennis, band and theater, with her favorite subjects, band and math.
“I definitely would not be where I am without the support of my parents (Susan and Donald Dally of Farragut), my band director, Mr. (Jay) Romines and my percussion lessons instructor, Dr. Andy Bliss,” Dally said. “I would say Mr. Romines has been the biggest inspiration to me.”
Andrea Subtirelu
Subtirelu received several scholarships before deciding on UTK, where she received the UT Volunteer and HOPE scholarships.
“I am thankful for the financial stress that these scholarships have taken off my shoulders,” she stated. Andrea plans to major in psychology and “apply my knowledge to a job that I have a passion for … forensic behavior analysis.”
In high school, she majored in humanities. Her cumulative weighted GPA was 4.30. Her highest SAT score was 1430 and highest ACT score was 33 – “with a super score of 34.”
At KCHS, Subtirelu was a member of the National Honor Society, National Spanish Honor Society, National French Honor Society and she is a National Hispanic Scholar.
“My parents (Marielisa Rincon-Subtirelu and Mihail Subtirelu) are, without a doubt the people who are my mentors and who have inspired me the most,” she said.
“They have always pushed me to be the best person that I can be, academically and otherwise,” Subtirelu added. “... They worked extremely hard to come to a foreign country, go through difficult training and succeed in the careers that they love, even with the barriers that attempted to push them back.
“Now they are some of the best doctors in their fields. I hope to be able to push through difficulty and come out on the other side stronger in both my personal and professional lives, just like they did.”
Abigail Orillion
While Orillion was offered scholarships from UTK, Tennessee Tech University, Middle Tennessee State University, Milligan College, and had full-tuition offers from Carson-Newman University and University of Tennessee at Chattanooga, she is accepting the scholarship from Carson-Newman — planning to major in nursing.
“I hope to study to become an RN, then after a year go to graduate school to become a pediatric nurse practitioner,” Orillion stated in an e-mail.
“Because there were only five students out of about 60 who received the full-tuition scholarship, it still feels like it’s not even real.”
As for KCHS, “I feel prepared academically, spiritually and socially for the next phase of my life, thanks to this wonderful school,” Orillion stated.
The daughter of Jennifer and Michael Orillion, “My mother inspires me most,” she stated. “She taught me the benefits of sacrifice, hard work — and most importantly, what it means to lend someone a helping hand without even thinking about it.
“She works as an occupational therapist in the Knox County Schools system and works tirelessly to care for me, my sister, and the children that she works with,” Orillion added.
Receiving the Monsignor Thoni Award, or “Student of the Month,” in 2018, which honors character, work ethic and service, Orillion also was a “Scholar Athlete” at KCHS while maintaining a weighted grade-point average of 3.7 or above.
Orillion also received an English Departmental Award in 2019 and the “Most Talented” superlative award from her classmates.
Olivia Escher
Escher was offered the UT Volunteer Scholarship, $8,000; HOPE Scholarship, $4,000; and General Assembly Merit Scholarship, $1,000. She plans to attend UTK and major in animal science with a direction toward veterinary medicine.
“My future career goals are to work in an animal clinic that focuses on small animals, and one day own my own practice,” Escher stated. “My experience at Knoxville Catholic has been one that I will always be grateful for. The teachers and staff are so supportive of every student.”
At KCHS, her academic focus was in the sciences. There, she had a weighted GPA of 4.39 and unweighted 3.9. Her ACT score was 34.
She earned the Advanced Placement Human Geography award her freshman year, and she is a member of the math honors society, Mu Alpha Theta; National Honors Society; and she attended Tennessee Governor’s School for the Agricultural Sciences.
She is the daughter of Pam and Rudy Escher.
Blaine Dolin
Dolin was offered scholarships from UTK and Reserve Officer Training Corps, among others.
With a grade-point average of 3.8 and ACT/SAT score of 32 and 1370, his focus in high school has been to get into West Point, where he plans to major in chemical engineering and pursue a career in the military. To reach that goal, Blaine stated in a recent e-mail he pushed himself by taking harder classes.
“I’m thankful,” Dolin said about receiving the scholarship. “It means my hard work paid off.”
He was a Boys State participant and on the honor roll all four years of high school. Dolin also was in the regional math competition for both Algebra 1 and Algebra 2 and the Spanish honor society. At the same time, he played football and soccer at KCHS.
He is the son of Brian and Letty Dolin.
Ethan Boder
Accepting an academic Navy ROTC scholarship, Boder plans to study nuclear engineering at The University of Illinois in Champaign, Illinois.
“I want to become a nuclear officer in the (U.S.) Navy and transition back to a civilian job after my service,” Boder said.
“I am incredibly honored to receive this scholarship because it makes me feel trusted that I would be chosen to represent the Navy and the country as a military officer,” he stated in an e-mail. “I got to where I am to receive a scholarship by focusing on my studies and ensuring that I displayed the characteristic that were necessary for an NROTC scholarship.”
At KCHS, it was “a fantastic experience,” said Boder, a gymnast. “I came in incredibly quiet and shy, but over my four years, my experience helped me to open up and become more outgoing.”
Earning a 33 ACT score, “I loved all sciences in high school, but I especially enjoyed chemistry and calculus,” he added.
Boder is the son of Eric and Marti Boder.
