Where Are They Now?

Ashley Pospisil

Ashley Pospisil received the Optimist Scholarship in 2004.  Ashley attended College of the Ozarks after high school and graduated with a degree in Elementary Education. She has a masters degree in differentiated instruction and is working on a second masters in gifted education. Ashley always wanted to be a teacher and is now in her 15th year of teaching. She has been married to her husband, Nathan, for almost 12 years and they have three children and reside in Weston, a small town about 30 minutes north of Kansas City.

🎓𝗔𝗱𝘃𝗶𝗰𝗲 𝘁𝗼 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗖𝗹𝗮𝘀𝘀 𝗼𝗳 𝟮𝟬𝟮𝟯🎓

"Follow your dreams! You will run into challenges and obstacles that will try to derail you, but don't let them. Stay true to yourself and don't try to be someone you are not."

Kelsey Hutton

Kelsey Hutton received the Optimist Scholarship in 2008.  She attended the University of Missouri and earned a degree in Linguistics, worked with refugees and immigrants and received her Master's certificate in Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages, also from Mizzou. Kelsey worked as a teacher for four years and now for Arizona State University recruiting international students. 

"I'm currently in Accra, Ghana about to leave on a flight for Nairobi, Kenya. I've traveled to, worked in, or lived in about 25 different countries," Kelsey said.

🎓𝗔𝗱𝘃𝗶𝗰𝗲 𝘁𝗼 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗖𝗹𝗮𝘀𝘀 𝗼𝗳 𝟮𝟬𝟮𝟯🎓

"In my current job, I primarily work with high school students, talking about the importance of higher education. My advice is: take the time to find the right community college or university that fits your passions. Be practical, open-minded, and don't compromise on what you really want to do. And if you don't know - that's perfectly fine. Explore!"

Adam Kimrey

Adam Kimrey, a 2002 recipient of the Lebanon Downtown Optimist Club Scholarship, is now the Processing Plant Manger at College of the Ozarks. He attended college there, earning his bachelor's degree in agriculture business with a minor in accounting. He is married to Jana has two children. 

🎓Adam'𝘀 𝗔𝗱𝘃𝗶𝗰𝗲 𝘁𝗼 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗖𝗹𝗮𝘀𝘀 𝗼𝗳 𝟮𝟬𝟮𝟯🎓

"Keep your options open. You can have goals and ideas of what you want to do in the future, but if something comes up that is not the path you expect, just keep an open mind. I never dreamt I would be where I am now, but now, I couldn't see myself anywhere else. God opened so many doors for me . I didn't see it at the time, and it was nerve racking, but looking back there were so many things that fell in place, it could only be a God thing! So just keep an open mind and go for it. Change is scary but also so rewarding. I see so many college students that have their mind set on their goals and miss out on potentially life changing opportunities.  Just keep an open mind and don't be scared to try something new -even if it's not where you think you want to go."