By Lindsey Rowland
lrowland@wbcowqel.com

Four years ago, John Kime of Bucyrus knocked on Cole Payne’s door. Payne was a 15-year-old, born and bred in Bucyrus, and Kime was looking for a young man of his caliber to fill a position at his alma mater, Culver Academy in Indiana, a military school of long-standing national repute.

Kime had heard from many sources about Payne’s character and his suggestion to consider such an opportunity came at the perfect moment. Cole was finishing up junior high at Holy Trinity and he and his family were trying to decide where he should attend high school so as to best learn at his own pace and make his own path. After much research and a visit to the 130-acre campus, the decision was made to attend.

The biggest challenge was finances; the base cost of a year at Culver is, as Cole’s father Jeff Payne put it, a challenge for a regular family.

But Kime, whose father and siblings also attended Culver, pointed Payne in the direction of the Duchossois Scholarship, which is for students from the Midwest and would award him enough money for tuition, room and board, uniforms, books, and everything in between.

Payne applied for the scholarship and commenced a lengthy process of acceptance, which spanned over six months and included an application with multiple essays. Once the pool had been narrowed down to 30, there was a formal dinner and interview. Finally, out of over 250 students in his year, Payne was one of only three to be awarded the Duchosois Scholarship to Culver Academy.

Once Payne arrived on campus as a freshman, he hit the ground running. Throughout his four years, he worked hard, learned much, and ended up serving as the top cadet in his class. That put him in charge of over 400 of his peers. In addition, he was given many opportunities to spend time in Croatia, where he volunteered at local elementary school to help build and repaint a mural; in Fiji where he worked in a village to level sidewalks and build a bathroom facility for the elderly; and Australia, where he volunteered to teach basketball and athletic training at a special needs facility.

His scholarship helped to fund these endeavors, but Payne himself planned and executed the expeditions to both Fiji and Australia.

For all his efforts, Cole walked away from Culver with many well-earned awards and recognition. And now, looking ahead, Payne has decided to attend Wabash College to study political science. He will be attending on the Lily Scholarship, which is almost identical to the Duchessois that he was granted at Culver. He looks forward to becoming a lawyer, judge, and possible politician.

When asked how he thought the opportunity that Kime introduced him to had prepared him for the future, Payne said, “I don’t think I’d be anywhere without it, honestly. You’re thrown into it and…living with 60 guys, you become more than just roommates. Culver taught me how to live my life. I don’t think I’d be ready to go to college by myself if I didn’t have this experience.”

According to the elder Payne, the alumni from Culver stand out in their ability to stay connected constantly.

“It’s just like a developmental circle,” Jeff said, “The develop you when you’re there, you get out, develop your path, and then you give back.”

In this, John Kime seems to exemplify how both the Culver alumni and the Bucyrus community look out for one another. Kime holds Culver close to his heart, as he attended the academy himself, as did his siblings as they followed in the footsteps of their father, a well-known patriarch of Culver, known affectionately in its halls as “Moose.”

“The only thing I did,” Kime said, “was open the door; I put him in front of the door and he barged through it…It’s very emotional for me because it brings back my dad…and he’s great, he’s a good kid.”

To see the interactions between Payne and Kime is to see the legacy that both speak of so highly. When Kime bragged on Payne, commenting on how a kid from Bucyrus held the top leadership position in one of the top leadership schools in the country, Payne simply stated that he wanted a path that differed from the norm and provided him a place to fit in, where everyone was like-minded, despite coming from all walks of life.

He wanted to forge his own path and ended up walking away better for the journey that Kime helped to set him on. His hope is that his journey will inspire other young kids from the area to dream big and challenge themselves.

When asked what his biggest takeaway from the experience was, Payne responded, “A teacher used to say, ‘It’s not about you.’ It’s not about you. That’s my biggest takeaway, it’s not about me. Eventually, in the future, there’s your wife, your family, your children, your community, your job, your school, Culver.

“He said, ‘Things just aren’t about you’. And that’s not to say that you’re not important and what you believe isn’t important, but I think there’s more to life than just what I want to do and being quote unquote successful, and that it’s kind of about getting there, and I think Culver made me realize that you can’t do it by yourself. If my parents and grandparents hadn’t taught me, let me go to Culver, if John hadn’t given me the opportunity… And then when I go out and get on my own two feet it’s my job to give back so someone else can do what I did. That it’s not about me anymore.”

To that, Kime chuckled and responded, “I think it was a life changing experience for him.”

Payne answered, “That’s an understatement.”

It was, of all things, a different path.