Steimel wins MFA Scholarship, sets sights on Evangel

Volleyball scholarship also awaits outgoing Ash Grove High School senior
 
An Ash Grove High School senior has been awarded an MFA scholarship. Olivia Steimel was awarded a $2,000 scholarship by MFA in late February, which will be applied to her tuition at Evangel University, where she will be playing volleyball. The scholarship was open to children and grandchildren of MFA members; Steimel’s grandfather was a member of the MFA.
Steimel, 18, said, beyond her grandfather’s MFA membership, she had to meet a certain number of standards to qualify for the scholarship. One was her involvement in the FFA.
“They ask that you be involved in FFA for at least two years, and I have been in FFA since I was a freshman,” she said.
Another quality Steimel said she had to display was leadership. Steimel said she demonstrated her skills as a leader in the activities she participates in, including FFA, the high school volleyball team, and the Bois D’Arc Baptist Youth Group.
“I just try my best to be that good role model that people look up to,” she said.
Community service was also a requirement, and Steimel said FFA gave her the opportunity to serve.
“Every year, we go out to the signs that welcome you into town, during the ag classes, and clean them up, make them really pretty again,” she said. “Sometimes we’ll go the cemetery and clean up headstones. We also moved furniture from Mama Loca’s to the dress shop here in town. We do things like that.”
Steimel also took part in A+ tutoring, something she said she enjoyed very much.
“I love helping the younger kids,” she said.
Volleyball in store
The MFA scholarship is not the only financial assistance Steimel has received. She also signed on to play volleyball for the Evangel Lady Crusaders. In return, the school awarded her a $7,000 scholarship.
Steimel said she loves playing a volleyball because it provides her with “a challenge.”
“I think for me, it was a challenge, because it’s a communication sport,” she said. “You have to communicate really well with your teammates on the floor, that way you know who’s going to get the ball, and when and where, and I am actually hard of hearing, and so that was a challenge to me, and once I’m challenged, I like to go get it and get it done. And so, I think that was my way of proving myself, and I fell in love with the sport.”
After she graduates from higher education, Steimel said she wants to be a high school physical education teacher.
“I may return to Ash Grove; I might go across the state,” she said.
“I just want to be a good coach and help other athletes.”