Zoe McNulty, 2020 Bette K. Huffman Scholarship

The college experience has certainly looked different this past year while teachers and students alike create a new normal during a global pandemic. No stadium-packed cheers for the home team. No dorm hall events to mingle and meet new friends. But despite the circumstances, resilience and positivity are shining brightly over Ball State University’s campus. Zoe McNulty is spending her first unusual year at college thriving and taking advantage of each opportunity that comes her way to best prepare for her future as a music educator.

Zoe was the 2020 recipient of the Bette K. Huffman Scholarship administered here at the Community Foundation. This scholarship was established to celebrate Bette’s love of music.

When creating her fund in 2007, Bette remarked, “My life-long love of all music, and the piano in particular, led me to want to help other young people pursue their music studies.” Honoring Bette’s legacy, Zoe is already on the right path to changing lives through music. “I know that when I get up in the morning, I’m going to music classes, so that excites me. I’m learning it for my benefit,” Zoe says.

Like many musicians would echo, music has always played a significant role in Zoe’s journey. “Music has been the key and the backbone of my life. It’s proven itself time and time again that it’s always going to be there in any situation- bad or good.

“And studying music in school is different because I’m learning how to give that gift to someone else, just as I was given. It’s a very special tool that you can provide someone. And it’s unique to each person. I want to inspire other people and give them that gift. If I can give that to someone—that knowledge and a way for them to understand themselves through music—that would be awesome.”

Zoe’s resilience and positivity ring loud and true as she joyously talks about her first semester in college and as she begins looking ahead at more opportunities to come, such as her recent invitation to join the Ball State University Singers, a nationally recognized show choir. “I hope that I can carry on Bette’s legacy by giving my future students the best education I can by always learning and growing, because things are always changing.”

Things are always changing.

Zoe’s determination to learn and grow through a global pandemic is surely a testament to her character. With a community back home to support this exciting start in Zoe’s life, we can’t wait to see what’s next!