Cedarville University is home to 3,459 undergraduate, graduate and online students.
Kim Jenerette, executive director of financial aid at the university, said the process of granting the scholarship to Jones was unique and informal. While initially planned for the fall 2014 semester, Jenerette said her sincere interest in attending Cedarville expedited the process after a conversation with president Thomas White.
Jones said she had spent months fasting and praying for a sign.
“When Kim called me about the scholarship, I told him, ‘See, I told you God wanted me to come in the spring!’” Jones said. “It was the best Christmas/birthday present ever. God turned my life around.”
In the future, Jenerette said the process will likely involve a formal application and be open to any student who has been in a foster home in Ohio. Jones was the only applicant this year.
Now tackling 17 credit hours this semester, Jones is studying social work with plans of opening an orphanage in Xenia after graduation.
“The academics are tough because Cedarville is top-notch,” Jones said. “But I didn’t struggle with moving to a new place, because I’m used to that. It was the staying part that was hard. But I have a great support system — Dr. White and my friends — and I’m happy with my decision.
“I could have done what normal girls do after they age out of the system…because it’s hard when you get out,” she said. “I was homeless for a while. But it’s not about the circumstances that you’re surrounded with that matters, it’s what you make out of them.”
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