Ayear ago, Chase Bourbon never dreamed he would begin his college career an Ivy League university, yet, he is packing up and preparing for the move to Boston to join Harvard’s Class of 2027.

“KU, Oklahoma University and K-State. Those were my big schools,” Bourbon said. “My gifted teacher, Nancy Schmitt, has been helping me, and she mentioned something at the beginning of the year on a whim about applying to Ivy Leagues. It had not been on my plan.”

With an interest in pre-medicine, Bourbon researched and applied to three Ivy League schools.

“I looked for top medical schools, ones I thought would be a decent fit for me,” he said, “to get me somewhere big with a new perspective.”

With top grades in his class at Ellsworth Jr./Sr. High School, he was easily accepted to state universities, yet two of the three Ivy League universities he applied to rejected him.

“I thought that pathway was closed,” Bourbon said. “(With Harvard), I was wait-listed instead of rejected, so it gave me some hope.”

To bolster his chances of being accepted, Bourbon opted to utilize his time on the wait-list by taking a class through the Harvard Student Agencies.

“It’s not directly attached to the school, but it’s run by students,” he said. “It was a way for me to connect with students. I was emailing the instructor. I had another support beam, even while I was in the application process, it was another person to give me advice.”

In addition to current Harvard students, Bourbon connected with Simon Orozco, Kanopolis native and 2005 EJSHS graduate who attended Harvard and graduated with a bachelor’s degree in biochemical sciences in 2009.

“He was the most recent student to go to Harvard, Mrs. Orozco’s (past EJSHS Spanish teacher Bonnie) son,” Bourbon said. “I had good contacts with Senora Orozco, so I did a phone interview with him. I was taking notes and learned everything he had to say about transitioning into a new environment.

“He put it into perspective that rural kids like him and I had a shot. He explained that it was possible. It’s new, but manageable, he explained, for kids like us to put their voice out there too.”

Bourbon was born in Salina and moved to Ellsworth during his infancy. He is the son of Angie and Jerry Froese and Troy and Sabrina Bourbon.

With acceptance letters and scholarship offers from multiple state universities, Bourbon went through the full application process with Harvard, which included an interview with an alumnus.

“I went to Manhattan to talk to her and she became one of my mentors,” he said. “She explained Harvard as (being) a door-opener, but it’s a brand new environment you can never expect.

“She was from a small town, too. It was a complete culture shock, but there was nowhere else she would rather go. She said you were welcomed and wanted once you were there. It gave me goose bumps.”

With about six weeks until graduation, Bourbon didn’t have a final answer from Harvard.

“April 1 came around and I got an email that I had something in the Harvard portal,” he said.

“I’m going to miss the town I’ve grown to love, for sure. It’s a tightknit community. I wouldn’t want it any other way.””

Chase Bourbon 2023 EJSHS Graduate Bourbon urgently tried to log in, but ran into technical issues.

“It crashed,” he said. “The whole portal crashed because they release admissions at the same time. It was a crazy day.

“(Finally), the message popped up, ‘Congratulations, you’ve been accepted.’

“I think I dropped my phone. I was shocked for sure. That moment hit hard because it was very unexpected. I had put in a lot of work in the last couple of months to try to get there, but didn’t think it was attainable until it rolled across my screen. It was very emotional.”

The next hurdle was the Ivy League tuition.

“They have a very generous alumni donation and financial package,” Bourbon said. “Being a rural student helped me out in that regard. It covered quite a lot of it. It made it very, very reasonable.

“At that point, I was all in. I wanted to go make the most of it. See what new doors it opens.”

Bourbon credits the Ellsworth community for fostering a supportive environment.

“I got lucky being from a small town,” he said. “My application looks less – it doesn’t look as rigorous as some other private school applicants because I don’t have a weighted GPA, but that’s why I got so lucky being from a small town.

“It’s been a blessing being able to be a person being involved in the community because I was not only focused on academics. I had plenty of time to go enjoy the functions of our school instead of being rigorously focused on academics.”

With the flexibility EJSHS provides, Bourbon was able to earn both his CNA (certified nursing assistant) and CMA (certified medical assistant) licenses as a high school student.

“For many years, I’ve known I wanted to do premedicine,” he said. “I was not sure what the angle was, but medicine was the goal. Recently, I’m interested in trauma surgery. That was prior to being accepted to Harvard. I also have a dream of being a research fellow.”

In addition to academic opportunities, Bourbon was on the football team, which made a strong post-season run.

“It was a big bond with a lot of the guys,” he said. “The class under me, we’re hoping for a state championship.”

Bourbon also placed sixth at state tennis with his doubles partner, Brendan Anderson.

One of his favorite high school achievements was helping start the Youth Entrepreneurship Challenge at EJSHS.

“I was an honorary board member at Economic Development,” Bourbon said. “My first year’s project was to get the YEC running. I took it into the school andfound students who wanted to make their businesses. We took it up and asked if we could get it rolling. That’s how the first year started. It’s grown. I hope to see it keep going.”

Bourbon is packing his bags, preparing for the long drive to Boston, preparing to meet his new roommates from Memphis and South Africa and to immerse himself in college life.

“Right around me are people I would never have had a connection with had I not gone somewhere so diverse,” he said.

Once Bourbon decided to attend Harvard, he said the community support poured out.

“Our town is supportive. They’re happy the people that grew up here and graduated here are growing and are successful,” he said. “Everyone I talk to is just as shocked as I was — not a bad shock — it’s amazing. It’s big from a small town.”

“This last week has been such a ride. I’m at home and am thinking about how I’m going to miss my family and all the people I know. I was hanging out with my friends last night. We were driving down Douglas and by the high school. I’m going to miss the town I’ve grown to love, for sure.

“It’s a tight-knit community. I wouldn’t want it any other way.”

“I was shocked for sure. That moment hit hard because it was very unexpected.”

Chase Bourbon 2023 EJSHS Graduate